You're My Clarity
by goldgirlbomb
Summary: While working one night at the bar that she owns, Kris meets a group of pirates that will change her life forever. In a strange twist of fate, she ends up coming aboard their ship to work for them. She agrees to help them search for an extremely rare trea
1. Chapter 1

It was the end of another busy day as Kris began cleaning up the bar, preparing for closing time. Most of the regulars had already filed out earlier, and only a few stragglers were left behind. Time always seemed to fly by at the bar, but she was grateful for another day's end. She'd had to come in early that morning to do the inventory in the back stockroom, and hadn't had much of a break since. Her feet ached underneath her, and she was ready to go home. Not that she would have that far to go, as her bed was only one story above her head, but still, she was ready for the day to be over with so she could finally kick up her feet.

She stooped down and starting placing some of the clean mugs into their places, having finally finished washing them. With only herself at the bar most days, it was sometimes hard for her to even have time to wash and clean all of the dirty dishes. But she'd managed to squeeze in some time earlier in the afternoon to clean up, having most of her usual customers heading back to work after their beers. Another one of her regulars called out their regards, and Kris waved over the counter to them. Looking up at the clock, she only had one hour left until she could finally put up the 'Closed' sign, and she was ready.

The front door clanged open, and Kris sighed. It wasn't unusual for some of the guys from the market nearby to come by after they'd closed shop for the day, and tried to stick around longer than the posted hours. She just hoped today that they would get their drinks and be on their way, but she knew it was merely hopeful thinking. Kris finished placing the clean mugs in their compartments and stood up, watching as six unfamiliar gentlemen filed into the bar through the front door. She had never seen these men before, watching as they made their way towards the counter to sit. She would know if she'd seen them, as the island she lived on wasn't exactly the biggest place around.

They were pirates, that much she could tell. The hushed silence from the other men still straggling in the bar alone told her that. Well that, and the apparent Captain of the group wasn't exactly subtle in his appearance, captain's hat still sitting upon his head. Not that the rest of the group was subtle either, as she counted one with an eye patch, one with a bandana, and all wearing tattered, ship-bound clothing. Not a smile among them, she noted as they slowly walked toward the counter, looking as if all of them were just as exhausted as she felt.

As the group of pirates sat down at the bar, she could see the rest of the men in the bar grabbing their things and practically running out the door as if they were on fire. One man remained behind, Joe. But he was a regular, and unless the bar actually was on fire, she knew there would be no way in hell he would leave before finishing his beer. Kris put on her best smile and walked over to the men at the bar. It wasn't the first time pirates had come in here before, as the town's main port wasn't too terribly far from, and she knew she could handle them. She'd become well acquainted with pirates and bandits alike in her formative years, and these guys didn't appear to want to cause any trouble. Although they didn't look very mean or nasty, like some of the others that had wandered into the bar, she made sure to keep her guard up, just in case. She leaned on the counter in front of the Captain and smiled.

"What can I get you boys?" She asked politely.

The Captain smiled at her. "A round for my men if you don't mind."

"Coming right up." She said brightly, grabbing a few of the mugs she'd just put away and placing them on the counter. One by one, she filled it up to the top with beer and slid them down to each man. The group talked quietly amongst themselves as she continued to fill the mugs until each one had a mug in front of them. The Captain toasted to the group, slapping the one with the eye patch on the back, who looked anything other than amused as the Captain slugged down his beverage.

The one remaining straggler, Joe, who had finally finished his beer, made his way up to the counter and slid the empty mug down to Kris. Known amongst the town as the local drunk, it didn't surprise her in the least that he was the last of the regulars to leave, as he usually was the last to leave. She nodded her thanks and collected the mug, stooping down to place it in the dirty dish pile she'd once again seemed to accumulate. She stood up in time to see him then walk towards the group, walking unsteadily as he'd had a few too many, his face sneered at the men. The men seemingly ignored him, continuing to drink their beers.

"Dirty, filthy pirates." He muttered quietly to the group as he made his way towards the door.

The one with the eye patch turned around and looked at Joe. "Would you care to say that again? I'd like you to say it to my face this time." He then nonchalantly took another slug from his beer, watching as Joe's face enflamed.

"Eduardo…" The Captain snapped quietly, his tone disapproving.

Kris watched as Joe stormed back into the bar towards the man with the eye patch. "I called you dirty, filthy pirates. It's a shame that filthy mutts such has yourself think you can just barge in wherever you like."

The man, apparently called Eduardo, shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the bar. "Thought that was what he said, but I wasn't sure." He and the man with the bandana laughed, taking another swig of their beers.

Joe's nostrils flared and before Kris could protest, he slapped the back of his head. "Hey! I was talking to you."

Eduardo sighed, sounding more annoyed than angry. "And I was ignoring you."

"Why I oughta…!" Joe declared as he went for the pistol he always kept at his side. Kris had heard enough and reached under the bar and grabbed the pistol that she always kept there for safe keeping and held it up, pointing it at Joe. The entire room hushed, and all of the men looked shocked as she cocked the gun and walked around the bar towards Joe. Joe looked stunned as she reached forward and yanked his pistol from his hand, and pointed towards the door with the pistol.

"I think it's time for you to leave now Joe. You know how I feel about fighting in my bar."

"But Kris…" Joe started to protest.

"But nothing Joe. Now get out before I get the station to drag your sorry ass home again. I'm at my limit with the number of fights you've tried to start in here. And don't bother coming back here for a while."

She all but shoved Joe out the door and slammed it closed behind her. Straightening herself, she looked outside to make sure Joe was heading home. Satisfied as she watched him sulk away, she turned around and headed back to the bar. Disarming her pistol she placed it back in its place underneath the counter. She looked up with a start to see all the pirates staring at her.

The one boy on the end, the one she assumed was the youngest of the group, with his flaming red hair looked up at her in astonishment. "You're… you're not going to kick us out?"

Kris placed a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow, turning around to look at the boy. "Now why would I kick you out?"

The man sitting next to the boy, a fellow with shaggy blonde hair who didn't look too much older than the youngest leaned forward, his eyes piercing as he looked at her. "He seems like he comes here a lot..."

"We didn't mean to scare off one of your customers…" The boy said quietly.

Kris laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "Don't worry, you guys didn't do anything wrong. Besides, I've never much liked him anyway."

The captain threw his head back and roared with laughter. "I just met you and I already like you." He raised his mug up to her and smiled, then slugged the rest of his beer down.

Smiling, she grabbed the mug from his hand and poured him another. "This one's on the house for the trouble. Same goes for the rest of you. Another glass for all of you on me."

A chorus of cheers came from the group, and men talked happily amongst themselves for a moment. She wasn't sure why she'd stuck up for them just now, and she was almost baffled at herself for offering them all a round on the house. She'd only just met them after all. It was just something about them that she liked. They weren't like other pirates she'd met. Sure they looked the part, but they seemed a lot nicer than the ones she'd met before. The other pirates that had come in here before had all been extremely rude to her, or overly flirtatious, to the point where she had to call the local authorities. She'd thought she'd seen them all, but then these six walked in.

Continuing her cleaning of the bar for closing time, she discretely watched them as they talked and laughed together. She couldn't help to notice that all of them were extremely handsome, in their own ways. Perhaps that was why they stood out to her, from all the other pirates. The other pirates she'd seen were much older, uglier, and dirtier. These guys looked her age if not a few years older, and were pretty clean shaven for pirates. She made her way back to the bar and finished loading her dirty dish pile, ready to take it out back to wash them after these guys left.

The man with the bandana folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow at her. "What's your name?"

She turned to look at him. "Oh, it's Kris. You guys mind if I ask what your names are?"

"What for?" The man with the eye patch asked, still sounding annoyed.

Kris shrugged, smiling. "Well, I'd like to know who the hell I just bought a round for."

The captain laughed. "Kris here is indeed correct. Don't be rude now. I am Captain Morgan."

She smiled. "Isn't there a brand of rum called Captain Morgan?"

Morgan threw his head back and laughed once again. "No relation, I assure you."

The younger looking boy at the end leaned forward. "Thomas."

The man sitting directly next to him waved politely, smiling. "Christopher."

The blonde leaned back on the stool. "Russell."

The man with the eye patch rolled his eyes and with an elbow to the side from Russell, sighed. "Eduardo."

The man with the bandana nodded. "Nathan."

Kris smiled at the group and glanced up at the clock. Closing time. "Well boys it was certainly nice meeting all of you, but now I've got to shut the bar down for the night. But feel free to stop by any time."

The group gathered their things and headed towards the door. She looked down at the counter where they had all left money for their drinks, and collected it, tossing it into the cash drawer. Morgan turned and tipped his hat at her, and the men exited just as quickly as they had entered. Kris sighed as she walked over and flipped the open sign over to the closed side. The silence around her seemed to echo as she gathered the dirty mugs and headed out back. Tossing the mugs into the sink, she began scrubbing at them as she thought of the pirates. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she liked them. While yes a few of them seemed rather stand offish, she found them entertaining. She hoped that they'd stick around the island for a while and would stop by again. At the very least, they could at least scare off some of the regulars that came in all the time and whom drove her crazy.

She laughed to herself as she piled the now clean mugs on the tray and carried them back behind the bar. Kneeling down on the ground, she stacked the clean mugs in their appropriate spots. She could practically taste freedom from the grueling day as she stacked the last of the mugs, sliding the tray underneath. Towards the front, she heard the door swing open and she mentally groaned. It wasn't an unusual occurrence, for her to have to shoo people away, trying to sneak in after hours for a drink.

"Hey, sorry, the bar's closed for the night, come back tomorrow!" She called over the counter as she went to stand up. She brushed some dust off her shirt as she stood and looked up towards the door.

She stopped cold in her tracks as she saw a group of men, different than the ones before. But at the same time, exactly the same, in profession at least. Pirates. Just about as subtle as the previous group, all were dressed to the nines in their pirate attire. But unlike the last group, they appeared to be a lot less friendly. A group of them stood at the door, unmoved as she swallowed thickly, placing a hand on the pistol underneath the counter.

"Sorry boys, you'll have to come back tomorrow." She repeated. Before she realized what had happened, someone came from behind her and snatched her pistol away, tossing it away. She spun around to see another pirate, standing over her by a good foot or two, sneering down at her.

The captain of the group, a man who looked much older than the rest, stepped forward. His hat ornately decorated with feathers and jewels laying a top his head, he walked towards her with a Cheshire cat smile. One that made her feel even more uneasy than before, and made her stomach curl. He tossed the hat onto the counter and plopped down firmly in the stool directly in front of where she was standing. She definitely didn't like where this was going. All of the other pirates had made their way across the room, and were now standing in front of all of the exits and windows. And the one pirate that had taken her pistol was standing directly to her right.

"Now my dear, I need you to tell me about those Sirius pirates that were just in here." The captain purred at her.


	2. Chapter 2

"Who?" She asked, leaning forward into the counter.

The captain smiled at her, flashing his yellowed teeth. "The men that were just in here."

"Oh is that who they were? Shoot, you know, I forgot to take one of their business cards." She replied shortly, snapping her fingers sarcastically.

The man chuckled, a low rumble in his chest that didn't sound pleasant in the least. "You've got spunk, I'll give you that lassie."

"People keep telling me that, but most of them say it like it's a bad thing."

The captain narrowed his eyes. "Well, since I find you interesting at the moment, we'll say it's a good thing."

She folded her arms across her chest. "You mind telling me who you are at least? Or am I going to have to just refer to you as 'hey you'?" Her mind was screaming at her to shut up, to not provoke the already fierce looking captain sitting in front of her. But her sarcastic nature couldn't help but to surface, as she was starting to become increasingly nervous.

He flashed his teeth at her again. "You ask a lot of questions for a woman in your position right now."

Kris rolled her eyes. "Look, I work in a bar. You think I've never been in a compromising position before? Please, I've seen worse, and from nastier looking gentlemen than yourselves. Now am I going to have to call you some unflattering name based on the smell you gentlemen dragged into my bar, or are you at least going to tell me your name so I can tell you what you want to know and send you on your merry way?"

In the back of her mind, that little voice of reason was screaming at her to keep her mouth shut and just tell them what they wanted to know, and not make a fuss. But she'd never made it a point to listen to it in the past, why start now? She made a quick glance over to the men standing by the front door, all of whom were smiling menacingly at her. She'd seen the looks they were giving her one too many times. It was that look of 'we find you amusing at the moment, but say the wrong thing and we'll chop you into pieces and feed you to the sharks'. In her former line of work, she'd seen that look so many times that she was sure it was etched in her mind forever. Not that she hadn't deserved the glares in the past, as she'd always been a sarcastic little shit, even back then. But it certainly wasn't going to help her situation now.

"Fair enough lassie, I am Captain Sterling. Captain of the Vulkan." The Vulkan? Kris swallowed. She'd definitely heard of the Vulkan before. It was wanted by most of the navy, and was known for its particular specialty of pillaging and plundering towns and villages in order to find whatever treasure they were after at the time. Definitely not the particular crew that you want to find yourself alone with. But what in the world were they doing here? Last she'd heard, they were halfway across the world terrorizing some other town.

"What can I help you with then captain?"

"Tell me, did they leave something with you? For safe keeping?"

She shook her head. "Nope. They had a drink and skipped to their Lou back to wherever the hell they came from."

"You sure they didn't leave anything behind?"

"Unless you're just itching for the coins they left me to pay for their drinks, there's nothing here that I can give you."

The man, who had been looming around her and had been causing her nose to flare from the stench he seemed to surround himself with, spun around and came towards her. Before she could react, he grabbed her by the throat and all but slammed her up against the wall with enough force to knock the wind out of her. She coughed and sputtered as she clawed at the hand that held her. Man did he have a strong grip, she thought as she kicked out at him, hoping to kick him right in the baby maker, but missed by mere inches. The man squeezed her throat tighter, and she choked for air as he began crushing her wind pipe. Sterling waved his hand at the man, and he suddenly released his grip on Kris's throat, sending Kris stumbling back to the ground.

It took a moment to compose herself as she gasped for air to return to her lungs. "Jesus, you have a leash for this one?" She choked out. The bruises that she knew would start forming any moment began to ache, and she rubbed her throat tentatively.

Sterling chuckled. "Afraid not dear."

She coughed and gave the man at her right a look. "Might I recommend a place that sells them?"

The man growled at her and took a step towards her, but Sterling waved him away again, and he stood down. "Now, now Charles. That's not how we treat someone we're trying to talk to."

He turned his attention back to Kris and chuckled again. "You know lassie, I don't think I've ever come across a woman who's ever talked to my men, or myself, in such a way. One that's lived at least."

She straightened herself, trying to brush off the remark, and looked back at Sterling. "What is it you're looking for?"

"They just have something of mine and I'd really like it back is all. Now, did they say where they were headed?"

She shook her head again. "No, they didn't say."

Sterling sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Positive, or I would've told you already."

Sterling leaned forward. "You know dear, it would be better for your own sake to just tell me what they told you earlier. You were all in here laughing like you were the best of friends just now. They had to have said something to you."

Kris laughed. "Look, I don't know what it is you're after from them, but they certainly as hell didn't tell me anything. They came in, had their drinks, and left. End of story."

"I see. Well that's unfortunate." He sighed and stood.

Sterling waved his hand at the man again, and he instantly grabbed Kris by her throat again and squeezed. Pulling his arm back, he sent Kris flying across the room towards the alcohol cabinet. Her body slammed into the cabinet, sending glasses and bottles flying to the ground around her, shattered glass sprayed everywhere. She looked up to see Sterling walking away towards the door, and she stumbled to her feet, feeling blood drip down from a scratch at the top of her forehead. She wiped some of the blood off her forehead as she grabbed a hold of counter, trying to maintain her balance. That blow to the head had been harder than she'd initially thought, and her vision wavered as she fought to remain conscious.

Sterling turned and looked back at her, waving. "Bad luck old mum. Can't have you warning anyone that we're here. But it was certainly a pleasure talking with you dear."

"No, no. The pleasure was all mine." She shouted sarcastically back as she stumbled holding onto the bar for support.

He turned to one of his other crew members and nodded his head in the direction of the bar. "Burn it. And make sure she stays here."

The words rang in Kris's ears, and as she looked up in horror as she saw him and most of his crew walking through the door. Burn it? The only one that remained was the man from before, and she watched as he stalked towards her. She groaned as she pulled herself around towards the back of the bar. He swiftly rounded the counter and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and yanked her back. Throwing her arm around to punch him, he quickly deflected the blow, and grabbed her arm. He yanked it up and behind her back so hard that she heard a popping sound, following by a searing pain in her arm. She screamed as he tossed her to the ground, Kris grabbing her arm while lying on the floor.

He walked over her and kicked her once firmly in the stomach before turning and heading towards the door. Kris gasped and cradled her stomach with her uninjured arm, watching as the man smiled wickedly at her. He stepped on one of her legs as he passed over, keeping his weight firmly on her leg until he heard her screaming in pain once again. She heard as the door locked from the other side, and she groaned, grabbing at her leg. Through her haze of pain, Kris looked up to see as flames began to erupt from outside the bar, quickly making its way inside.

Kris scooted back until her back pressed up against the counter, watching as the fire spread inside, threatening to come closer. The window above the back door blew open, and fire swam in, following what looked like was a lit torch that had apparently been thrown inside. A strand of her hair fell in her face as she watched the flames dancing seductively in front of her. She blew at the strand of dangling hair in her face and sighed, cradling her injured arm. How the hell was she going to get herself out of this one?


	3. Chapter 3

Kris attempted to stand on her feet, but the blow to her leg earlier proved to have rendered her unable to stand for very long. She cursed under her breath and she pulled her shirt up over her nose, coughing as the smoke thickened around her. This was bad. They'd thrown torches into each exit, ensuring that she wouldn't be exiting those ways. She used her uninjured arm and began dragging her body across the floor. She wasn't sure exactly where she was going, her eyes scanned the room and there was no way for her to get out in time.

The bar continued to burn around her, and she attempted one final time to stand to her feet. She'd been in stickier situations than this, and she'd be damned if this was what did her in. Grabbing a hold of one of the bar stools; she pulled with her good arm, dragging her body up into the air. Favoring her uninjured leg, she wobbled and grabbed the counter to steady her body. She felt like a newborn fawn standing for the first time, as she held the counter. Taking in a deep breath, she moved to take her first time, hoping to at least limp around to find another exit. But as the pressure came down on her bad leg, she screamed in pain and collapsed back down to the ground.

Frustrated, she slammed her fist into the floor and screamed again. Her worry-o-meter kicked into high gear as one of the beams from the ceiling groaned, and crashed down to the ground next to her. The hot flames coming from the fallen beam licked at her skin, and she cowered away, scooting away to the best of her ability. Dust and debris surrounded her, and she coughed as the air seemed to thicken, mixing in with the already thick smoke. As the pain seemed to consume her, she fought desperately to remain conscious, but it proved to be a trying feat.

She leaned back against the bar again and sighed, her shirt covering her mouth, feeling defeated. The sound of glass breaking woke her from her depressive state, and she looked up. Her eyes filled with hope as she saw a man crawling in from the outside of the window, kicking bits of the window away. At first she thought her mind was just playing tricks on her, as her focus wavered slightly. Who in the world would come in here to get here? Sure people would see the bar was on fire, but she wasn't sure anyone around these parts would beat the door down to come help her. Not that she wasn't a friendly person or anything. It was just that she was almost positive that most of the inhabitants of this island were bitter old curmudgeons who would be more devastated over losing their precious drinking hole than they would be over losing her.

Narrowing her eyes, she watched as the man jumped in through the now opened window, scanning the room. She could barely make him out in the thick smoke, but she definitely wasn't hallucinating. She felt like crying from the relief. Someone had actually come in for her! She wasn't much of the 'damsel-in-distress' type, but she figured she'd make an exception this time. She heard the man cough, and saw his figure walking further into the bar, dodging fire and pieces of the ceiling that fell.

"Anyone in here?" He called out.

"I'm over here!" She shouted back, hacking as she swallowed too much smoke. Pieces of debris seemed to fly by as the man tossed it out of his way, heading towards where she was. She heard some debris near her being pushed away from the fallen beam that had landed near her. Seeing her up against the counter, the man came over and crouched next to her. Kris squinted her eyes to see him better as his face came into view. Wait a damned minute. Though it wasn't on his head anymore, the man had a bandana tied around his face, covering his mouth and nose, leaving his eyes free. That damned bandana. It was one of those pirates, the ones that Sterling was after. What was his name again? ... Nathan was it? What in the hell was he doing here?

He squinted to look down at her. "What the hell are you doing sitting there for? You have a death wish?"

"You're kidding me, right?" She screamed up at him.

"Well then you want to tell me why you're still here?"

"I thought I'd just stick around and have a bonfire! Why do you think I'm still freaking sitting here? I'm injured you numb-skull!"

She heard him laugh as he quickly inspected her injured arm and leg. She winced as he lightly touched her leg, squeezing her eyes in pain. She wasn't sure exactly what the over-grown pirate dog had done to it earlier, but it sure hurt. Nathan reached underneath her, pulling her up into his arms without a word. He adjusted her in his arms so as not to hurt her already injured arm, and then hauled her into the air.

"Just because you're injured and I'm saving you," He said down at her, "doesn't mean I'm not going to get you back for calling me a numb-skull." Though she couldn't actually see his mouth, she could just imagine the smirk on his face as he said it.

She smiled despite herself. "I'll call you it again if you'd like. Who the hell asks someone why they're still in a burning building anyway?"

He looked down at her, and upon seeing her eyes flutter, shook her. "Hey! Don't you dare pass out on me!" His barking words echoed in her mind, but seemed to go unheard. The pain radiated through her body so badly that her body finally gave in. She felt herself slowly slipping into unconsciousness and the last thing she saw before the blackness consumed her, was that man's face and his stupid bandana.


	4. Chapter 4

"You think she's gonna be alright doc?" A voice said, ringing in Kris's ear as she slowly drifted back into consciousness. What happened? All she remembered was that bandana guy Nathan trying to help her out of the burning bar and then total darkness. But feeling a soft bed underneath her, she knew she wasn't there anymore. But where was she? She groaned, feeling the familiar pain in her arm and leg, but not at the intensity that it had been.

"Hey, you guys, she's awake!" Another voice said. Kris's eyes slowly fluttered open, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light. It appeared to be the middle of the day, and from wherever she was, a window nearby trickled light onto her face. She lifted her arm up to shield her eyes, blinded by the light. Dear lord this better not be _that_ light, she thought as she blinked a few more times.

Finally able to focus her eyes, she looked around the room she was in. She glanced around quickly, seeing a few faces crowded around her, and instinctively recoiled, edging away towards the wall. The room that she found herself in wasn't the least bit familiar to her, and she suddenly felt slightly panicked at the idea of not knowing where she was. It took her a moment to realize that she recognized the faces around her, the Sirius pirates or whatever they were called, that she'd seen that night. But she continued to press herself up against the wall behind the bed she was laying on. One of them sat on the bed next to her and held out his hand. She whimpered in fear as he got closer, her mind still fuzzy from being unconscious. Was his name Christopher or Russell? … No, Russell had the blonde hair, this one had to have been Christopher. He shushed her soothingly, smiling gently at her.

"No, no. It's ok. You're safe now. You're safe here, don't worry." He cooed, and Kris felt herself calm down a bit.

Something in the way his voice sounded seemed to calm her a little, and she relaxed, sitting up to look at all of them. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Nathan leaning against the wall near the end of the bed. He had little bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in a while, and his expression was blank. They looked at each other for a moment in silence before Kris went to rub her eyes with her hands.

"W-Where am I?"

"You're on the Sirius. I'm a doctor and you were injured pretty badly, so they brought you here to treat your injuries."

She looked down at the sling that her injured arm was in, cradled around her neck. Her fingers poked out from the side of the sling and she wiggled them, making sure she could. There wasn't any pain, but as she moved her shoulder faintly, she could feel the soreness set it, and halted her movement. It wasn't anywhere near the pain she'd felt before, but it still lingered there. Her leg peaked out underneath the covers that had been lying on top of her, and she could see her lower leg bandaged. Wiggling her toes delicately, she felt a vague soreness there as well. Had she really been that beat up? Although, then again, as she thought back about how the amount of pain she'd been in, she decided it'd be safe not to answer that question.

"How bad is it?" She asked quietly.

"A lot better than I thought it would be, I'll tell you that. Your leg is sprained but should only take a few days to fully recover. And your arm was dislocated, but I set it back for you, so it should heal fairly quickly as well." She closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her neck with her good arm. Then, as she felt the unmistakable movement underneath her, her eyes shot open.

"Are we out on open waters right now?"

Christopher sighed and nodded. "Yes. It was too dangerous, with Sterling's men still looming around for us to stay."

"Wait wait, hold on a second," Kris said, throwing the sheet off of her, "you're telling me that you brought me here to your ship, and then just decided to sail off? Where the hell am I supposed to go?"

The captain from before stepped forward from the back of the group. Morgan was it? "Afraid so. But we'll take you to the next port, where it'll be safer, and we can help arrange for you to get home."

Kris threw her arm up. "What home? They burned down the only home I had. I don't have anywhere to go now." Kris placed her head in her hand and rubbed her eyes again, frustrated.

The bar was already almost completely destroyed before she'd fallen unconscious, she could just imagine the ruins it was in now. What would she go back to? She hadn't had very much when she'd first arrived at that bar years ago, and she didn't have much now. She'd lived in the upstairs apartment above the bar, and all of her things were likely destroyed now. She didn't have anything anymore. Not that she'd had that much to begin with, but as she thought of the few pictures that were on her dresser in her room, she pulled her knees to her chest to hid a tear that had escaped from one of her eyes.

Morgan sighed and placed his hands on his hips. "Then we can…"

Kris looked up instantly, interrupting him, her eyes blazing. "What was it that they were after?"

Morgan raised an eyebrow. "After?"

"He wanted something of yours. And when I couldn't present him with his magical answer, he had his ogre of a crewman dislocate my arm and burn down my bar. _What_ was he after?"

Morgan exchanged a look with Christopher before folding his arms across his chest. "A treasure map."

Kris chuckled. "Figures. And you guys are after the treasure, am I correct?"

"Yes."

"And you're not going to stop until you find it, correct?"

"Yes."

"And Sterling's not going to stop until he either gets that map from you, or battles over the treasure with you… correct?"

"Yes."

Kris sighed exaggeratingly and shrugged. "Well then, looks like you all are stuck with me."

The man with the patch, Eduardo, stepped forward. "Like hell we are."

"Well I'm not leaving until I settle my own score with Sterling and that big ape he calls a henchman. And on top of that, seeing as how it's sort of your fault that my bar was burnt to the ground, I'm figuring that you guys kind of owe me. But since I'm in a generous mood seeing as you guys did come back and save me, I'd like to make you a deal Captain."

Morgan laughed, throwing his head back. "And what's that?"

"You let me come with you guys and help you find this treasure, and even help you with Sterling and his crew, and you give me enough of the treasure to rebuild my bar."

Eduardo bawked. "Of all the …"

"Deal." Morgan replied, interrupting Eduardo.

"Captain, you can't be serious…," Christopher protested, sounding more worried than upset by the idea, "you know how Sterling and his men are, she could seriously get hurt."

Kris leaned back against the wall. "Don't treat me with kid gloves just because I'm a woman and I'm injured. I'll earn my keep on board once my arm and leg are healed. I know my way around, and can take care of myself."

Eduardo snorted. "Clearly. Clearly you are the force not to be messed with. Despite the fact that right now you're lying in a bed bandaged up like a mummy."

Kris narrowed her eyes at him. "I was taken by surprise before. I can assure you, that won't happen again."

Russell laughed as he leaned against the door frame. "This ought to be interesting."

"Very interesting." Agreed Nathan from the end of her bed, who had remained silent most of the conversation.

Morgan grinned at Kris. "I agree. Now's the matter about your boarding… You'll be staying with the chef, since you're technically already in his room now. Aren't enough rooms I'm afraid, so you're just going to have to share."

"We should probably leave now, she needs to rest." Christopher interjected, standing up from the side of her bed and ushering the others. Morgan nodded at the door, and the Sirius pirates started to file out the door one by one.

Kris waved at Morgan. "Wait a minute, which one is the chef?"

Morgan turned back to look at Kris as he stood in the door frame. "That would be Nathan, the… oh what was it you called him… oh yes… the numbskull."

Kris's eyes widened as she looked over at Nathan, who had stayed behind from the rest of the group. Black bandana wrapped firmly around his head, he looked up at her as he leaned against the wall. His dark brown eyes pierced hers as he glared at her, looking a combination of amused but annoyed. He smirked slightly at her as she watched him, hands in his pockets, as he stood and walked across the room towards the door. He took his time as he slowly walked, each step sounding menacing. He looked back at her as his body filled the doorway.

"Rest up butter cup. You need your strength for when you start working on deck." He said, his words dripping with mocking venom. Kris swallowed as he closed the door behind him. Boy was she in for it now.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a few days since she'd been on the Sirius, and she had started to get stir-crazy in her room. Well Nathan's room. But her room now too. Her arm and leg were starting to heal, and Kris had even been able to take the sling off her arm after a day or so. But Christopher had instructed her to stay in bed and rest until her wounds healed, but she was about to go insane just sitting there. Nathan only came in every now and then, and would only come in at night after she'd fallen asleep. She was pretty sure he was sleeping on the floor, and she'd started to kind of feel bad for him. That's not to mistake that she didn't completely feel sorry for him, as he always seemed to make some sniping comment to her whenever he would see her. But she did feel bad that he was sleeping on the floor in his own room.

The faint aroma of what was being prepared in the kitchen drifted into her room, enticing her silently to find out what the delicious smell was. It smelled so good Kris had to wipe a little bit of drool from the corner of her mouth. In the past few days she'd been there, the only times she was allowed to leave her room was to eat dinner with everyone. Her mouth continued to water as she thought of all the food that she'd gotten to eat. It had surprised her that there were so many types of dishes that had been put in front of her, but they were all delicious just the same. She'd never eaten that well in her life, and had never had such an assortment of food before. But they seemed to have just about everything on this ship. She'd wondered where they'd gotten all the supplies to make all of that food, but passing by the food storage room while heading to dinner one night, she didn't question it again. The room had been stacked with food up to the ceiling and she'd just stared at it in complete shock.

Kris finally decided she needed to get out and do something, and snuck quietly out of the room. Enough with this bed-bound crap. She just needed to make sure Christopher didn't see her sneaking about. He would, as he had the last time he'd caught her trying to leave, scold her for not letting her wounds heal up properly. Limply slightly, she tip-toed down the hallway quietly, trying to make as little noise as possible without hurting her leg. She went down and poked her head into the kitchen. Pots and pans were scattered about, each with some delicious smelling meal in it. But where was bandana boy?

"The hell are you doing in my kitchen woman?" The familiar voice asked. There he was. Kris turned around and looked up at the chef as he looked down at her. One eyebrow raised and a steak knife in his hand, she had to admit that he looked rather intimidating that way. But come on, he was the chef, how intimidating could he be?

"I can't stay in that room any longer. Wanted to see if you need any help."

He scoffed. "I don't need any help from you. If you don't get out I'll call Christopher down here and tell him you left the bed."

Kris narrowed her eyes up at him. "You wouldn't."

Nathan chuckled. "Oh but I would sugar, and don't forget it."

"Come on, please don't snitch. If I stay in there any longer I'll surely go insane." She begged as he went over to the counter to chop vegetables.

He looked up at her, a twinkle in his eye. "This is you when you're sane?"

She gave him a look. "I'll tell Christopher you made me come work for you."

He shook his head as he continued chopping. "You don't give up do you?"

"Are you going to let me help or not?"

Nathan sighed and nodded over to a bowl of potatoes that were sitting on the counter next to him. "Fine. Be quiet and peel these for me then."

Happy to be doing anything besides sitting in that bed, she limped over to the bowl and began peeling, standing next to Nathan. Although the awkward silence between them was blatantly present, Kris was glad to do something. She wouldn't be able to help up on deck until her leg healed better, but at least she could do this. And even though it seemed like some of the guys on board didn't particularly care for her, she was glad she could at least help out a little. She wasn't used to letting other people do things for her so much, having been alone most of her life. It was a strange and awkward feeling that she wasn't sure she could ever get used to.

"By the way… I wanted to say something to you…" She said quietly, keeping her eyes firmly on peeling the potatoes.

"What?" Nathan replied, sounding slightly annoyed at being bothered.

"I never thanked you… for saving my life."

Nathan looked over at her in the corner of his eye and smirked. "Well, well, well. Even you can be grateful, huh?"

Kris rolled her eyes. "I'm standing here trying to thank you and you're going to be sarcastic?"

He chuckled. "Sorry. Please continue."

She sighed as she looked over at him. "Thank you."

"… And?"

She looked at him, confused for a moment, before she realized what he wanted. "Ok, I'm _not _apologizing for calling you a numb-skull so you can forget it."

Nathan chuckled. "I didn't figure you would. But you're welcome."

They remained silent for another few moments before Kris glanced over at him. "So where exactly are we heading now?"

"You really don't like being quiet do you?"

"Nope. Never been a strong suite of mine."

Nathan sighed. "Moldor."

"Moldor? What's in Moldor?"

"Do you have to know everything right this minute?"

"Well if I'm going to be working on this ship for now, I need to know what's going on and where we're going! And besides, if you don't tell me now, I'm just going to keep bugging you until you do."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Supplies. Moldor's marketplace is one of the largest in the area, and we're running low on supplies. After that we're gonna go wherever that dumb map of Captain's takes us."

Kris nodded. "Do they sell weapons there?"

Nathan stopped chopping and looked over at her, raising an eyebrow. "What's it to you?"

"I want to see if they have any swords there I can purchase. Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I don't know how to fight."

Nathan chuckled. "Swords? That sounded plural. How many are you planning on buying?"

"Two."

"The hell do you need two swords for?"

"I'm ambidextrous; both of my hands are dominant. I can use both at the same time. Besides, if I'm going to help you guys get your treasure, I can't be unarmed. I need something on me if we're up against Sterling and his men."

Nathan chuckled again. "Just because you can hold two swords up at once doesn't mean you're any good at it."

Kris folded her arms across her chest and looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. "You wanna bet on it?"

Nathan turned to look at her, folding his arms across his chest as well. "You really want to bet me that you're gonna suck at it?"

"Who's your best sword fighter on board?"

"That would be either Russell or Captain, but Russell can use two swords at once as well. So I would probably say Russell at the moment."

"Then I bet you that if I were to have a match against Russell, I would win."

"Interesting. All right, you have a bet. What are the stakes?"

"What do you want?"

Nathan rubbed his chin. "Hmm… alright, if I win you have to wash dishes every day for the remainder of your time here. And, on top of that, I get my bed back and _you _sleep on the floor."

Kris laughed. "Alright sounds fair enough. But if I win, I want something else."

"What?"

Kris smiled up at him sweetly, her eyes mocking. "I get to call you princess whenever I want, and you can't say anything about it. And _I _get the bed."

Nathan narrowed his eyes and smirked at her again, sticking out his hand. "Alright. Deal."


	6. Chapter 6

Several hours later, Kris sat in a chair next to Eduardo and Morgan as they looked at the treasure map. Nathan had finally kicked her out of the kitchen, stating he didn't need a woman in there bothering him anymore, and she'd been hobbling back to her room. On her way, she'd passed by Morgan's office, and had overheard him and Eduardo making plans for their treasure hunt. Curiosity killed her, and she'd snuck around the corner to eavesdrop. But it hadn't taken long for Morgan to come peering out the door, and smiling down at her. He'd invited her inside to help them with their planning, and she'd happily accepted. Perhaps he'd known just how bored she was in that room of hers, but either way she was grateful for the invitation and all but ran into the room. Eduardo had, of course, been less than pleased with the idea and wasn't shy about saying so.

She rotated her sore shoulder, massaging the area as the two argued over which course of action to take after they left Moldor. Though her leg still hurt, her shoulder felt much better. She wasn't sure what all Christopher had done to it, but it had seemed to work. Rotating and moving her arms around, she barely felt anything at all. It was still a little tight, but she figured the more she moved it about, the better it would get.

As the two men next to her continued to squabble over the map, she looked down at it and inspected it. With its traditional 'X marks the spot' labeled blatantly on it, she made note of all of the surrounding area. According to the map, the treasure was located in a spot higher up in the mountains, and as the surrounding area around the mountain was vast, there were a few options of how to get there. She was well acquainted with the area, and was slightly relieved to know that she knew the area pretty well. But at the same time she couldn't help but to feel annoyed, knowing that there had been a huge treasure right under her nose for all of those years.

Eduardo poked a spot on the map. "We should cut through this pass here. We could port the ship right out there, and then use this pass to get there more quickly." While the path he indicated would be a quick cut up to the mountain, Kris knew that it wouldn't be the best route for them to take.

Kris shook her head. "No, that's a bad idea."

Eduardo turned to look at her, raising an eye and placing a hand on his hip. "And who the hell asked you?"

"Well, unless you want to cut through bandit country, I suggest you choose another path."

Morgan folded his arms. "Bandit country?"

Kris nodded, and used her finger to show the both of them. "This entire area right here is well known as bandit country. Its right smack dab in the middle of these two major port cities here. The only way to get between the two cities is to cut through here, and the bandits there know that. They live in this entire area just waiting for rich townspeople to come through to rob them. So again, unless you have the time to deal with them, I suggest you pick somewhere else to go."

Eduardo scoffed. "How the hell do you know that that's bandit country?"

Kris sighed, annoyed. "Because that's where I'm from. I'd like to think that I know the area pretty well."

"You're from bandit country?"

"Yep. Lived there for about six years before I moved to take over my bar."

Morgan smiled at her. "Alright then, what route would you suggest?"

Kris looked back down at the map. "Well, obviously avoiding this entire stretch of land here," she indicated bandit country with her finger, "and these two ports here, the ones for the major cities, are also naval bases, so we should avoid them at all costs. While it would take longer to get there, we should go around this part of the island. This port here is well known for its pirate population, which we should also avoid because that would be the first place that Sterling and his men would look. And besides that, the navy is well aware that the port is pirate territory, and always has an eye on it. So we should sail past that, and port at this port right here. It's a small fishing village that doesn't see many ships coming by. It would be a good place to start at. There's a river there that leads up to the side of the mountain, so it might be wise to follow that river so that we have a good water source right there."

Morgan nodded his head thoughtfully. "And how long would this route take us from Moldor?"

"Probably around a week or two, give or take."

"Two weeks?!" Eduardo exclaimed exaggeratingly.

Kris rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, two weeks. It's not ideal, but it's better than getting caught by the navy or by Sterling and his men."

"Sterling could get to us well within this two week time frame of yours. Ever think of that hobbit?"

"Oh I'm sorry, do you have a better plan there Cyclops?"

Eduardo narrowed his eyes at her. "Call me Cyclops one more time and see how long you live."

"Call me hobbit one more time then."

Eduardo placed a hand on the pistol at his hip. "Watch yourself woman."

Kris chuckled. "Please, if you think that's supposed to intimidate me, I suggest you work on your scare tactics a little more."

Morgan laughed and patted her on the back. "You know, I think I could get used to having her around. She's great fun."

"I think I'd rather feed her to the sharks." Eduardo grumbled.

Kris chuckled again. "I'd like to see you try big boy."

Morgan stepped in between the two, still chuckling. "Alright that's enough you two. I happen to like Kris's idea, so that's what we're going to go with. She seems to know the area a lot better than we do, so I think we ought to listen to her. But for now, continue to set our course for Moldor, and after we get all of our supplies, we'll have a group meeting about the plans and see what everyone has to say. Until then, play nice you two." Morgan chuckled as he stepped from in between the two, and walked out the door.

Eduardo glared down at her after Morgan was out of earshot. "Watch yourself. You may amuse the Captain for now, but just remember that I won't hesitate to slice you up and feed you to the sharks if I have the chance."

"And if you think threatening me like that is going to scare me, you're dead wrong. I don't scare easily darlin'."

Eduardo raised an eyebrow at her. "We'll see about that."

"We're going to be the best of friends, I can just tell." She replied happily, smiling sweetly up at him. He rolled his eyes at her and stormed out of the room. She had no idea what that Eduardo guy's problem was, but she certainly didn't care to find out either. She sighed and lifted herself from the chair and hobbled out of the room, making her way back towards her room.

She heard someone chuckling behind her and she turned to see Nathan leaning against the wall, his arms folded across his chest looking rather amused. "You certainly seem to know how to make friends around here, don't you?"

"You heard that huh?"

"I was passing by, yeah."

She rubbed the back of her neck. "A talent of mine I'm afraid. I would say that he scares me, but I get the impression that his bark is worse than his bite."

Nathan smirked. "Sometimes, but I wouldn't underestimate him."

She sighed. "Well he already hated me for being here, so at least now he has an actual reason to hate me."

"Well, not many women would put Eduardo in his place like that, I'll give you that much. Maybe having you around isn't such a bad thing after all." He said with a smirk, then placed his hands in his pockets, and made his way back down the hallway. She watched him disappear back into the kitchen, and smiled.


	7. Chapter 7

"So what all is it that we need to get again?" Kris asked as she followed after Nathan. The Sirius had reached Moldor earlier that day, and the group had been split up into teams to get their supplies. Christopher had stated that Kris should probably stay behind, with her leg still healing, but Kris wasn't going to hear any of that. She wanted to get off the ship, if at least for a few minutes, and she'd never been to Moldor before. She'd wanted to tag along with one of them, and had asked Nathan if she could go with him. He begrudgingly agreed to let her tag along with him, so she could help him carry the grocery items that he needed.

"Didn't you hear a word I said earlier?" Nathan asked, sounding annoyed.

"You just rattled off a bunch of grocery items, how did you expect me to remember all of them?"

"How did I end up getting stuck with you again?" Nathan complained teasingly as they walked through town.

Kris rolled her eyes. "You want my help or not?"

Nathan chuckled and handed her a piece of paper. "I figured you wouldn't remember, it's all written there."

"Why didn't you just give me this earlier?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Didn't feel like it."

Kris groaned. "You're impossible."

"Oh lighten up there butter cup, least you got off the ship for a little bit right?"

Kris narrowed her eyes. "Why do you keep calling me that?"

"What?"

"You keep calling me weird names."

Nathan looked down at her and chuckled. "Oh don't flatter yourself pumpkin. You seem to get a thorn up your butt every time I call you some sort of sweet-related nickname, so I just do it now to annoy you. I just enjoy picking on you."

"I've noticed. New hobby of yours?"

He smiled. "You could say that."

Kris sighed and looked down at the list. "There are not a lot of things on this list."

"That's because we don't need a whole lot right now. Just enough for us to last for the two weeks while we're sailing towards that port you were talking to Captain about."

Kris nodded. "You heard that too?"

"I did. You really live in bandit country for six years?"

"Yep."

Nathan raised an eyebrow at her. "You don't look that old, how old were you when you started living there?"

"I never thought that you'd be one to start asking personal questions."

"Look, if I have to share my room with you, I'd at least like to know some of the basics about you. Don't want some crazy person sleeping in my bed."

"That goes both ways then. I tell you something about myself, you tell me something about yourself. Deal?"

Nathan chuckled. "You drive a hard bargain, but alright."

Kris looked at him for a moment before smiling and continuing to walk alongside him in the market. "I was fifteen."

"Fifteen huh? So that makes you twenty-one now."

Kris nodded her head. "You are correct."

"Interesting."

"Alright my turn."

"Shoot."

"What the hell is your deal with the bandana? I mean, you wear it everywhere, all day. You have lice hiding under there or something?" She asked, smiling up at him.

It took him a moment, but he chuckled as he saw the smile on her face. "Lice, really? What the hell kind of questions it that?"

Kris shrugged. "I was just curious because you wear it so much. You hiding a bald spot under it then?"

"No. It was just a gift from an old friend of mine. Grown rather attached to it."

"An old friend huh? Who?"

"None of your business that's who."

"Hey! You can't just selectively answer the questions you like, it's not fair. Besides, you're the one who wanted to ask questions!"

"Well not about that, so drop it."

Kris nodded. "Fine. Well, it suits you at least."

Nathan raised an eyebrow at her and chuckled. "Is that a compliment I hear?"

Kris rolled her eyes again. "I just said it suited you."

"No, no, I do believe that was a compliment. A shitty one, but a compliment none-the-less." Nathan teased.

"Oh shut up would you? And no more questions, you ruined it."

"How did I ruin it? You're the one who asked if I wore a bandana to cover up lice or a bald spot."

"Well you're the one who wouldn't answer one of my questions, so you automatically forfeit."

Nathan glanced over at her. "You know, you really suck at this whole having a conversation with someone."

Kris laughed. "I guess I'm just not very good at trying to get to know someone."

"Obviously. We really need to work on your people skills while you're with us."

Their conversation ceased temporarily as they arrived at the grocery section of the market. With the list in her hand, Kris began picking out each item, scrutinizing them before placing them in a basket that she and Nathan were sharing as they gathered their things. Nathan would then inspect each item she placed in basket, checking to make sure it was to his liking, and then put it back inside. Although he was stubborn and somewhat annoying at times, Kris found herself enjoying his company. He teased her endlessly, but didn't seem to dislike her as some of the other guys on board had made blatantly obvious.

It didn't take long for their basket to fill to the top, and Kris was able to cross off all of the things written on the list. Nathan came in behind her and checked to make sure they had all that they needed. He paid for their items, and gathered up all of their grocery items, taking an armload and handing the other portion to her. He nudged her teasingly as they headed back to the ship.

She looked up at him. "I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Why are you being nice to me?"

Nathan chuckled. "What, am I supposed to be mean to you or something?"

"No, it's just some of the other guys have made it pretty clear that they don't like me. And while you give me shit for everything, you haven't really been mean to me."

Nathan rearranged the groceries in his arms and brought his hand up, rustling her hair. "Relax would you? I don't think it's that they don't like you, they just don't know you. And since you seem to follow me around like a puppy, I just know you a little bit better I guess."

"I do not follow you around like a puppy."

"Relax babe, it's just because we share a room so I'm around you more. Besides, you don't seem like that bad of a person. And anyone who can put Eduardo in his place like that is a friend of mine." He joked. As they were walking, Nathan started to head in a different direction than from where the ship was headed, and Kris cocked her head to the side as she looked at him.

"Where are you going? The ship is this way."

Nathan raised an eyebrow at her. "Thought you said that wanted to get some swords while we were here."

Kris's eyes lit up. "Really? You'll take me to get them?"

"I've got a bet riding on this little fight between you and Russell, and I'm fixin' to win it. So come on, let's get your swords."

Kris followed after him happily. "Oh sweetie be prepared to lose, because you seem to highly underestimate me."

"The only thing I underestimate about you is the size of your mouth, and the amount of sarcasm you can spew in one sitting. Other than that, I think I've got you pretty figured out."

Kris chuckled. "Then be prepared to sleep on the floor for a while there princess, because I can assure you that this is one bet that you're not going to win."

"You don't get to call me that unless you win, which I'm just about sure you won't. I can just hear those dirty dishes calling your name right now, and that bed of mine calling my name."

Kris smirked at him as they headed down towards the weapons section of the market. "Just you wait, I'm going to show you."


	8. Chapter 8

Kris followed Nathan back on board, holding the groceries in her arms. It had taken them longer than they'd initially planned on taking when they'd gone to the weapon section of the market, so they'd hustled quickly back to the ship. They'd managed to find a really nice pair of swords at one of the vendors, and Kris had fallen in love with them. They weren't too fancy, but the hilt of both swords were decorated just enough to her liking. The swords she'd handled before had been much simpler, plainer, than these. They were quite beautiful, and Kris couldn't stand to part with them, so she'd purchased them on the spot. She'd even purchased holsters for them and had them slung over each shoulder, a feeling all too familiar with her. She oddly almost felt more comfortable having them strapped to her back. She'd given up the swords when she went to work at the bar, but she'd certainly missed having them.

Everyone had already returned back to the ship by the time that they had gotten back. Once she and Nathan stepped on board, the rest of the crew began pulling the ship out of the port. She followed after Nathan and helped him place the items in their appropriate places, the two silently placing the items away. She felt the familiar rocking of the ship as they headed back out into open water. Once everything was put away, Kris turned on her heel and began walking out of the kitchen.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Follow me and you'll find out." She called over her shoulder.

Walking back onto the deck, she made her way over towards Russell, who was tying down some lines when she came and stopped in front of him. The rest of the crew looked on curiously as she folded her arms across her chest and looked up at him.

Russell lifted an eyebrow at her curiously. "What's up?"

"I'd like to challenge you to a sword fight. I've heard you're the best on deck."

Russell laughed. "You're joking right?"

"Not in the least. What do you say?"

Russell chuckled. "You're serious?"

Kris nodded and stretched her sore arm out. "And don't hold back just because I'm a woman. Give it your all because trust me, I'm not going to be holding back either."

"Are you insane? I'm not going to fight with you."

"You afraid you're going to lose to a girl?"

The challenge raised Russell's attention, and he knitted his brows together, smirking at her. "Alright fine. If you're that determined to lose, I guess I can accommodate you. How you want to do this?"

"You know how to use both swords at once right?"

He scoffed. "Yeah, I do."

"Alright, then we both use two swords. Loser is the first one to get pinned down."

"You sure you can fight with that leg of yours?"

Kris smiled. "Don't worry about that. You just concentrate on keeping up."

Russell laughed as the both of them got into their fighting stance. Kris pulled both of her swords from behind her back and held them up, and Russell repeated the movement by pulling his own swords from his sides. The rest of the crew had gathered around at this point, having heard the exchange between the two, watching with interest. Nathan was leaning against the staircase next to Eduardo, his arms folded across his chest as he watched.

"I'm not cleaning up the mess when she gets sliced to pieces." Kris heard Eduardo mumble to Nathan.

"I'll place my bet on Russell, obviously." Thomas said, walking over to join the two.

Morgan shook his head and folded his arms across his chest. "Nah, I think I'm going to put my money on Kris. She seems like she's got something up her sleeve."

"I agree with Captain. I'm putting my money on Kris." Christopher said, smiling.

"How much are we talking here?" Eduardo asked.

Morgan shrugged. "I'll put down twenty gold pieces on her."

Thomas laughed. "You sound pretty confident in her Captain!"

"She's got more spunk than I think we give her credit for."

"I'll put down twenty on Russell. I think she's all talk." Eduardo scoffed as he folded his arms across his chest.

Russell smiled up at Kris. "You want in on this?"

She shrugged. "Why not. What do you want if you win?"

"You have to clean my room indefinitely."

Kris nodded. "Alright. And if I win you have to clean all the bathrooms on board indefinitely."

Russell smirked. "Deal."

"You ready?"

"Ready." He replied, nodding his head.

In the next instant, Russell rushed forward to attack, but Kris had been expecting that move, and swiftly dodged it. Russell quickly spun around, and the two clanged swords against one another. The two danced around the deck as their swords clashed against one another again and again. Russell swiped forward at her with one of his swords, and she leaned back, balancing herself as the sword sailed over her head. Using the back of one of her swords to balance her, she kicked her leg up and into his jaw. The blow caused him to stumble back. He furiously charged forward and attacked her again.

He was pretty good, she had to admit, but there was one thing she noticed about him that would be his undoing. He depended too much on his strength, and not enough on agility or speed. Something she was quite good at.

As he charged her, Kris decided to experiment with him. While she wanted to go ahead and end the fight quickly, as she knew she could, she also wanted to prolong the fight a little bit longer, just to stretch her fighting legs once again. She dropped down to the ground and using her arms, she slid her body across the slick deck and in between his legs, tucking her swords to her body. He watched incredulously as he flew over her. She somersaulted back to her feet and as he was trying to slow back down to run at her once again, she took advantage of his time lag and went up behind him, tapping him on the shoulder. This seemed to further infuriate him. He swung around with his swords, agitated at her fast-paced movements, but yet again missed her as she dodged him. Balancing herself on the deck with one of her blades, as his blades missed her, she kicked her leg up, and knocked one of his swords out of his hands. The blade whizzed through the air and landed firmly into the ship, directly in between Eduardo and Nathan. She glanced over at the two quickly with a smile as their eyes widened, looking at the shaking sword in between them.

With only one sword remaining, Russell's frustration of being teased in such a manner seemed to be his boiling point, and all strategy he'd seemed to have beforehand went completely out the window. An angry sounding roar escaped him as he swung his remaining sword at her, clanging harshly into one of hers. This fight was drawing to a close, and Kris made her move to finish it. She faked him out with one sword, and quickly stooped down, using her good leg to spin around and knock him over. Russell fell back with a loud thud, and before he could get up to regroup, Kris pounced and jumped on top of him, slamming her swords down on either side of his neck, and crossing them down in front of his throat. Russell's eyes widened considerably as he looked up at her, looking completely stunned. She'd won. And in only a matter of minutes on top of that.

She slowly stood up and pulled the swords up from the deck, and slid them back into their holsters. The deck was dead quiet as she wiped some sweat off her forehead. She heard as Morgan and Christopher began laughing and cheering for their victory, high fiving one another. Russell's expression, as he looked up at her, was a combination of confused and defeated, and Kris almost felt sorry for the kid. She held out a hand to him, to help him stand up. He hesitated for a brief moment, but took her hand in his, and let her help him up.

"Good fight. Love to spar with you again sometime." She chirped happily, sticking her hand out to him. He gave her another confused look, but begrudgingly shook her hand. The rest of the guys stared at her, all looking just about as stunned as Russell did. She walked over to where Russell's sword had lodged itself in between Nathan and Eduardo, and giving both of them a cocky smile, she yanked the sword out and tossed it over to Russell. As Kris looked at both Nathan and Eduardo's faces, she didn't care how much money she'd have ever gotten from this fight, remembering the looks on their faces now would be worth the effort.

With a satisfied grin, Kris placed her hands on her hips and looked up at Nathan. "Have fun on the floor princess."


	9. Chapter 9

Kris headed back towards her room, walking down the stairs from the deck. She could hear Morgan and Christopher's voices booming overhead, celebrating their victory and laughing at the other's complete dismay. She couldn't lie and say that she hadn't enjoyed their reactions. Particularly Eduardo's, she kind of wished she could go back upstairs and just rub it in his face, but she restrained herself and continued walking.

It had been slightly offensive to her at first that they all just assumed that she had no idea what she was doing with a weapon. She may be a woman, but that didn't mean she was inept when it came to fighting and weaponry. She'd trained with swords for years while she'd lived in bandit country and she was certainly no novice at it. Hearing the lot of them laughing about the possibility of her losing had boiled her blood, and she'd wanted to show them what all she could do. And the funny part to her was that she still hadn't. That was just her warming up.

She was laughing to herself when she heard footsteps running after. A small smile warmed her face as she heard Nathan calling her name. And here come the questions, she thought. Of all of them, she knew Nathan would be the one who chase after her to ask her what had happened upstairs. She felt as he grabbed her arm and spun her around. He still had a look of pure bewilderment on his face as he looked at her, and she couldn't help but to laugh.

She looked up at him. "What?"

"How in the hell did you do that?"

She took her arm from his and folded her arms across her chest. "Do what?"

"_That_! You know exactly what I'm talking about!"

Kris giggled. "You know, you weren't very good at your little question game before."

He knitted his eyebrows together. "What the hell does that mean?"

"If you'd have asked me _why _I'd been living in bandit country all those years, you'd know perfectly well where I learned to fight like that."

Nathan looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. "You were a bandit?"

"You got it princess. Girl's gotta eat somehow."

"You were really a bandit?" He repeated.

She smirked. "Yes, I really was a bandit. I lived there in bandit country and earned my keep the same way everyone else living there does."

He looked at her curiously. "Then why were you working in some bar when we found you?"

"What is it with you and trying to know my life story all of a sudden?"

Nathan rolled my eyes. "Call it curiosity if you have to. Plus if you don't answer, I'm going to pester the ever-loving piss out of you until you do."

Her smile faded slightly and she adjusted herself. "Fine. My uncle passed away and left the bar to me. He was all the family I had left, and I was the only family he had left. So after he died, I gave up being a bandit and moved to that mind-numbingly dull island."

Nathan looked at her, and his face softened, and he smirked at her. "You know, you keep on surprising me. I could get used to having you around."

"Well, you're stuck with me around here whether you like it or not, but it's nice to know I'm at least growing on you."

Nathan chuckled. "Don't push your luck."

Kris shrugged. "Who knows though, if you're really nice to me I might eventually even let you use your bed again someday. But I doubt it."

"That's a low blow you know. I really thought I'd call you on your bluff."

Kris smiled. "I don't lie about things I'm good at. But besides, I'd pay money to see Eduardo's face after I pulled the sword from in between you two. The look alone was worth the energy."

Nathan laughed. "Yeah he was pretty stunned."

"Didn't he say something about not cleaning up the mess after Russell sliced me to pieces?"

Nathan nodded. "I'm pretty sure he'll leave you alone from now on after that little display."

"Good to know. Someone needs to knock him down a few pegs."

Morgan's voice boomed behind her as he passed them in the hallway. "Well I'd say that you certainly knocked him down a peg or two."

Kris smiled. "Glad to know at least two of you had the smarts to place your bet on the right one. How's Russell doing?"

Morgan threw his head back and laughed. "His tail is tucked firmly between his legs and his ego is probably pretty bruised, but he'll be alright. He's good, but even he knows he needs to train more."

"So what exactly are the plans for when we arrive at this fishing village?" Nathan asked.

"We'll discuss that more when it comes closer time for us to arrive there. We have two full weeks of planning to do, so we don't have to rush it right this minute."

Nathan scoffed. "I'm such Captain Plan-It upstairs isn't too thrilled about that."

Morgan laughed again. "Not in the least but he'll learn to deal with it. I would, however, like for the crew to do some training while we have the spare time. And with Kris's little demonstration, I'd say we could all use a little practice."

Kris smiled. "Well at least I won't be underestimated again."

Morgan patted her on the back. "Not in the least. Thomas seemed particularly afraid of you when you walked downstairs just now, so I'd say you've earned your spot."

"I'll make sure not to scare the kid too much."

Morgan reached over and patted Nathan on the back. "Well, you two enjoy yourselves. I'll be in my courters if you need me." With another firm pat, Morgan flounced down the hallway, and disappeared around the corner.

Kris couldn't help but smile. She was going to enjoy being on this ship after all. Though she was never one to try to win other's affections, it was nice to know that at least some of them were starting to like her. She knew she'd never get Eduardo to like her, and that didn't bother her. But at the very least he would respect her more. And although she'd probably destroyed his ego, she figured Russell would respect her a little more now as well. Poor kid. During their time on the ship, while they were all training, she would see if she could train with him some. Though he'd lost, he'd proven to be a good sparring partner, and while she could use the extra practice, he might benefit from a thing or two she could teach him.

She was even glad that Nathan was starting to lighten up around her more. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something about him that she liked. He wasn't exactly sore on the eyes either, and she had to admit that she had watched him longer than probably should have at moments. But hey, can you blame a girl? He was also almost as sarcastic as she was, didn't take any bullshit, was stubborn as a mule, but underneath it all, she got the feeling that he was just a big softie. And she didn't know why, but she liked that. She felt herself wanting to be around him more and more, even if they both still teased one another mercilessly.

Nathan shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "You busy now?"

Kris raised an eyebrow. "I'll have to check my schedule, but I'm pretty sure I'm free."

"I need an extra pair of hands in the kitchen to help make dinner tonight. You mind?"

"Depends, are you going to bitch at me?"

Nathan looked up thoughtfully, but smiled at her. "I'll try not to. No promises though."


	10. Chapter 10

Kris began chopping vegetables as she stood next to Nathan. He'd asked her to help him with dinner, which was highly unusual since he was usually chasing her out of the kitchen. But she didn't care, she was happy to help out. Christopher had come down earlier and congratulated her on her win against Russell, but had scolded her for exerting herself so much. He stated that her leg was still trying to heal, and her fighting certainly wasn't going to help it. He'd also forbidden her from doing any other heavier work for another few days, and that he would clear her hopefully by the time they all started training. She'd brushed him off and told him that she would be more careful with it, and after she spent a little while standing next to Nathan, she felt her leg begin to throb in delayed response.

She nibbled her lower lip as she favored her good leg, continuing to chop. "So, just out of curiosity, why did you need help with dinner tonight?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well usually you're trying to chase me out of the kitchen, but this is the first time you've actually asked me in."

"Your cooking skills really suck. You almost burned the kitchen down the other day when I did ask you to do something."

Kris blushed slightly, remembering the fiasco with the stove the last time she'd been in there. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Sorry again."

"It's alright. I thought I'd help you work on them while you were in here."

Kris looked at him. "Really? You'll teach me?"

"Sure, why not? You just keep working on those vegetables and then in a little while I'll show you how to prepare them for a stew."

Kris nodded as she continued her work. "Where did you learn to cook like this?"

Nathan glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow with that teasing look in his eyes. "Asking personal questions again are we?"

She glared at him. "Ok princess, you can't be that opposed to conversation while you're cooking, can you?"

"I suppose not."

"So where did you learn?"

"When I was younger I worked at a restaurant as a waiter. I spent a lot of time back in the kitchen, and the cook who worked there would stay there late after work and would show me how to cook."

"He sounds like a really nice guy."

Nathan nodded. "He was."

"Whatever happened to him? Do you still go see him?"

"He passed away a few years ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Nathan shrugged. "Well what about you? What made you stay in bandit country for so long?"

Kris kept her gaze on the vegetables in front of her. "My parents died when I was little, and I had to fend for myself somehow. It was all that I knew for the longest time until I inherited the bar."

"You inherited it?"

Kris nodded. "Yeah. The guy who owned it before I did was a good friend of mine. I met him when I was young and tried to pick-pocket from him, but he caught me. Instead of getting mad or anything like that, he actually took me to get something to eat. Guess he knew that I was stealing from him because I hadn't eaten in a while. Although he didn't live nearby, he'd come back to visit me all the time. I was so young when my father had passed away, that he was kind of like a father to me. He always was telling me how he wanted me to get out of the bandit life and such, that I would always have a place there at his bar if I wanted to. But I was young and stupid, and arrogant. I would just shrug him off, saying that I could take care of myself. He really was such a kind and caring man…"

Nathan looked over at her. "So what happened?"

"He got sick. Just couldn't get better. I found out about it too late."

Nathan stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I heard that he was sick, so I went to go see him, to help him get better. But by the time I got there, he was gone. I wasn't going to stick around, but I soon found out that he left the bar to me in his will. He didn't have any family or children of his own. Guess he thought of me as his own…"

"I'm sorry."

Kris shrugged, keeping her face forward so he couldn't see the tears forming in her eyes. "Shit happens. But that was why I was so pissed when Sterling and his gang of idiots burned it down."

"It was all you had left of him." Nathan said, his voice soft, softer than it usually was.

She nodded. "Yeah."

As she continued to chop, looking forward, she felt a hand pat her head gently. Shocked, she turned to look at Nathan, who was smiling sadly at her. "We'll help you get your bar back, so don't worry."

"T-Thank you." She replied, her heart pounding in her chest. He'd only touched her head, why was her heart thundering away? As she looked up at him, she leaned onto her bad leg and winced, the pain coming back. She winced and went back to immediately lean back on her good leg.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing. I'm fine, don't worry about it."

He raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't look like nothing. Is your leg hurting?"

"I'm fine." She repeated, turning back to her work.

"Babe." Nathan said, his voice warning , as if he knew she was lying.

She rolled her eyes. "Ok maybe a little, but I'm really ok." Nathan walked towards the other side of the kitchen and grabbed a stool, pulling it back over to where she was. He placed it beside her and nodded his head towards it.

"Sit on the stool for now. Christopher's right, you probably overdid it earlier."

She looked at it hesitantly, but took the stool and sat down on it, immediately feeling the relief in her sore leg. "Thank you."

"No problem babe." He replied, sounding teasing once again.

She couldn't help but smile. "Alright, you don't get to call me 'babe' just because I call you princess."

He grinned. "And why not? There was never any arrangement saying that I couldn't call you something. The agreement was just that you could call me that, and I wasn't allowed to say anything about it."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "That's kind of skating around the rules a bit, don't you think?"

"Perhaps, but I'm still going to call you that."

"But why 'babe'?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know, you just look like a 'babe'."

Kris glared at him. "And you're really going to stick with that?"

He smiled at her and winked. "You bet your bottom dollar _babe_."


	11. Chapter 11

Later that evening, after Kris had helped Nathan finish making dinner, the group was sitting around the table. They had remained relatively silent for most of the meal, as it typically did while the group ate, but as Morgan finished his last bite; he wiped his mouth and sat back in his chair.

"Alright everyone, we need to begin discussing what our plans are for the next couple of weeks." He stated, leaning back in his chair.

"Well first we need to decide what we're going to do when we get into port." Christopher stated.

Thomas nodded. "I agree."

"Depending on when we get there, we'll probably want to stick around port for at least one night." Eduardo said, continuing to shovel in food.

"Why do you say that?" Kris asked curiously.

He looked up at her, looking quite annoyed. "Because _hobbit_, Sterling and his men might show up there, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather deal with them head on when they're not expecting it, as opposed to us wandering around in the woods and them sneaking up on us." Kris glared at Eduardo for his comment, and he merely smirked at her, apparently enjoying the annoyed expression on her face.

Morgan nodded his head thoughtfully. "I think I agree with Eduardo on this one. We should probably stay at least one night in town before we start up towards the mountains." Murmurs of agreement spread amongst the group.

"Then what?" Thomas asked.

"Head up towards the mountain to the treasure. We'll follow the river, as Kris said, to make sure we don't run out of water. It should take us a few days to reach the mountain from the town, so we're going to need to make sure that we have that water supply at hand."

"I want to know why Sterling hasn't shown up around here yet." Russell said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

"I was wondering the same thing…" Thomas replied, scratching his head.

"It's very unlike him to wait around like this. He had to have looked at that map beforehand, so either he's going straight to where he thinks the treasure is, or he's following behind us a good distance, enough for us not to see him." Morgan said, taking a swig of his beer.

Christopher nodded. "Knowing Sterling, he'd still be following after us even if he knew exactly where to go."

"Do you guys and Sterling have some sort of beef or something?" Kris asked curiously.

Morgan shrugged his shoulders. "You could say that. We've never really been enemies, but we're definitely not exactly friends either. We run into one another on occasion and usually just try to avoid one another. See, the Sirius isn't really into the whole pirate 'pillaging' or any of that. We search for treasure to pay for ourselves, but that's about it. Sterling and his men on the other hand have a real… talent… for that."

Russell snorted and looked at Kris. "Not exactly the group women or children want to be anywhere near if you catch my drift."

Kris nodded in understanding, swallowing thickly at the thought. She'd gotten lucky that night in the bar in that case… "Well… if you guys aren't exactly out for each other, why is he so after you and that map?"

"Well," Morgan said as he swallowed another gulp of beer, "I actually got that map from an old merchant in Moldor's marketplace a while back. An elderly woman who'd had it in her attic for years and hadn't seen it in ages. Decided to sell it and I just happened upon it while we were there. It's actually him that stole the map from us, not what he told you."

"Really?"

"Yep. Snuck aboard one night while we were in port and took it. We managed to get it back a short time later, but Sterling still operates under the whole 'finder's keepers' rule."

Russell swallowed some food and spoke up, nodding his head towards Kris. "Captain, you think he knows about her?"

"Not likely. He probably thinks she died in the bar fire."

"Let's hope he did." Christopher stated, leaning back in his chair.

Kris knitted her brows together. "Why? I'm dying to see the look on his face when I show up and give him the proper beating he deserves."

Morgan chuckled. "Again, I like your spirit kid, but you might want to keep a low profile if him and his men are lurking around. Not as to say we don't want you to fight when we have to, but it'll probably be a good idea just to lay low if he, or his men, is nearby."

"Why the hell would I do that?"

Thomas looked up at her, rather bashfully. "Well, Miss Kris, to us, you're just one of us, one of the guys. But to them you're still…"

"A woman." Eduardo finished for Thomas.

"And what does that have to do with anything?"

Eduardo shook his head. "You really don't get it do you?"

"That because I'm a woman I'm going to have to be extra careful around them? Tip-toeing around like some little kid?"

Nathan spoke up for the first time, having been silent most of the conversation. "No one questions your abilities Kris. It means that if, by the off chance, that they do get a hold of you, they are going to do whatever it is that they would do to _any_ woman they capture. And you know exactly what I mean when I say that." About to protest, she went to open her mouth, but upon seeing Nathan's intense glare at her, she stopped. Her heart hammered in her chest under his intense gaze, but she wasn't sure as to why. His face said that he was being firm, unrelenting, but his eyes said that he was worried. He was worried about her? But why?

Morgan broke her gaze away from Nathan. "We just don't want you to do anything too reckless. Alright?"

Kris nodded solemnly. "Alright."

Morgan nodded. "Good. Alright, now, while we're out here we might as well get some training done. So starting tomorrow we're going to have a training day to get a feel out for how everyone's doing, and then go on from there."

Christopher smiled cockily up at Russell. "Well I don't think we have to know where Russell and Kris stand."

"Shut up." Russell grumbled as he shoveled in another spoonful of food.

Morgan chuckled. "Indeed, and considering Kris's leg, Russell and Kris are exempt from tomorrow's practice. But everyone else is to participate, no excuses. And then after tomorrow Kris and Russell may start in with their training with the rest of you. Agreed?"

"Agreed." The group replied.


	12. Chapter 12

The next day, Kris walked onto the deck. Her leg still felt sore, but not nearly as bad as it had the previous day. Everyone was supposed to start seeing were they were in their fighting, and Kris wanted an up close seat. They had all just finished lunch, and after helping Nathan clean the dishes, she made her way across the deck, watching as some of them began warming up. She knew that Russell was quite good with the swords, as she was, but she didn't really know what everyone else was good at. She just wanted to get a feeler out for what everyone else's skills were so that if they did have to come up face-to-face with Sterling, she would know who could do what. She saw Russell already sitting on the staircase, and she went over and sat next to him, watching as everyone began warming up.

"So, what do I get to look forward to?" She asked as she watched Thomas and Christopher stretching.

Russell smiled. "A lot of watching."

Kris rolled her eyes. "I mean what all is everyone going to do? What are they good at?"

Russell nodded to Thomas. "Well Thomas is also pretty good at swords, but he's still a novice compared to you and I. But like you, he's fast, which works to his advantage with his size. His biggest card to play is his ability to move so quickly like you do, but again, he still is working on his technique so he's not quite there just yet."

Kris nodded. "Ok."

"Christopher's quite good at martial arts. Black belt. He's good with other weapons as well, but his expertise is at hand-to-hand combat. He's actually best when he's not using a weapon, but I know he knows how to use a sword and a pistol both properly, he just prefers not to use them."

"That's a useful skill to have."

"Yeah it is."

"And Morgan?"

"Captain's good at a lot of things. He and I are… and you now… the better swordsmen on deck. He only uses one sword however, while you and I can use both."

Kris chuckled as she looked over at Eduardo. "What about Cyclops? What's he good at?"

Russell smiled. "Pistols. Eduardo's an excellent shot, and in all the years I've known him, he's never once missed. He's capable of using any kind of gun, but he prefers his pistol. He's had that thing forever, takes it everywhere with him."

Kris nodded. "Interesting. Think he'd take a shot at me if I pissed him off?"

Russell laughed. "I'm not going to say no, but I doubt it. He's grouchy, but he's not all that bad. He'll warm up to you after a while, it just takes him a bit."

"Yeah no kidding. Pretty sure everyone here hates me, but especially him."

Russell looked over at her and knitted his brows together. "We don't hate you."

"You don't?"

"No. I mean, yeah I'm still kind of butt sore after losing to a girl, but that doesn't mean I hate you. I'll admit, I kind of respect you more now because of it. It would have been just a pain in the butt if some girl who had no idea how to fight was tagging along with us. We were honestly all a little relieved about it. And the other guys don't hate you either, they respect you as well. You've shown that you can handle yourself and can hold your own. You usually just keep to yourself, or talk to Nathan on occasion, so it's not like we hate you, we just don't really know you that well."

"Sorry… I guess I've just never been too good at 'making friends'."

Russell chuckled and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, none of us are too good at it ourselves. But be more confident in yourself around us, and don't be afraid to just be yourself. You surprise all of us because of how sarcastic and… well, tom-boyish I guess would be the word… you are, and I think I can speak for the rest of us in saying that I think we'd all want you to just be one of the guys. You seem like a pretty cool chick, it'd be a shame if you isolated yourself away from everyone else, you know what I mean?"

Kris nodded. "Yeah, I do. Thanks Russell."

"No problem. Just remember, none of us hate you, we just would like to get to know you a little better before we all roll out the welcome mats. But I do think Nathan's particularly fond of you, so at least you're talking to someone around here."

Kris raised an eyebrow at him. "What makes you say that?"

"Nathan's usually pretty quiet and stubborn, but he seems to loosen up around you. Don't think I've seen him act like that in a long time."

"He teases me constantly." Kris replied with a smile.

Russell nodded. "Exactly. Nathan doesn't tease anyone like that if he doesn't like them."

"Does he tease you guys like that?"

"Occasionally, but not all the time like he does with you. And besides, you're the only one so far he's allowed in the kitchen with him. Usually just snaps at us whenever any of us have tried. So I'm pretty sure he's come to like you a lot more than you would guess."

"But why would he be fonder of me than you guys? That doesn't make any sense."

Russell shrugged with a smile. "Perhaps you two have more in common than you think."

"What do you mean by that?"

Russell chuckled and shook his head. "You'll have to ask him that one for yourself."

"I see." Kris said, looking up to watch Thomas and Christopher sparring. As if he'd heard his name earlier, Nathan appeared on deck and went over and leaned against the wall next to Eduardo. He looked over at Kris and saw her glancing at him, and winked teasingly at her.

"What's Nathan doing up here? Is he here to watch?"

Russell chuckled. "You think he only knows how to cook?"

"Well then what else does he know how to do?"

Smiling, Russell shook his head and leaned back. "I'll let you figure that one out for yourself. Wouldn't want to spoil the fun."


	13. Chapter 13

The rest of the crew had been practicing their skills while Russell and Kris watched on the sidelines. She sat quietly as she watched each of them practicing, silently impressed by each one of them. Dark clouds loomed overhead, covering the sun and casting a shadow on the ship. Thomas had, earlier that morning, said that there was a storm approaching them in the distance, and would probably reach the ship by the next day, but it appeared to have arrived earlier than planned. She wasn't sure whether the storm would cause them any delays in their trip, and hoped that it would blow over soon.

Nathan and Morgan had been leaning against the wall watching everyone from the other side of the deck, and neither had made a move to participate. Maybe they were waiting until everyone else was done? Russell still refused to tell Kris what it was that Nathan could do, and it had been bugging her for a while. It hadn't necessarily surprised her to know he was good at something other than cooking, if his well-sculpted physique told her anything, she was just unsure as to what that was.

She thought back to earlier that morning when she'd gotten up and Nathan was on the other side of the room, changing shirts and she'd gotten a view of his bare chest. It would be hard for her to lie and say that she hadn't been immensely impressed with what she'd seen, even having to get some water afterwards for her dry mouth. He'd of course seen her staring and had teased her for it relentlessly, and had left the room to head to the kitchen. She found herself wanting to follow after him after he left the room. What was wrong with her? Was she starting to develop feeling for a stubborn, infuriating man like Nathan? She'd quickly shook the thoughts from her mind and had gone on board, but now as she watched him leaning against the wall talking to Morgan, she found herself blushing.

Nodding to Morgan, Nathan pulled himself off the wall and walked towards the middle of the deck. Morgan followed after him and stood facing him, the rest of the guys clearing the way around them as they stood in front of one another. Kris sat forward in her seat, curious as to what was going to happen next. Nathan rolled his shoulders back and stretched leisurely as Morgan unsheathed his sword from his side.

Kris watched on curiously as Nathan reached behind him and began pulling something out. Light shimmered off of it, and Kris's eyes widened as his weapon came into full view. A sickle sword and chain? Kris could only think of a handful of people in her lifetime that had ever used the weapon, and who were actually decent at using it. Nathan had never mentioned having one before, but as she thought back, she recalled him having a case for something of that shape hidden away on his side of their room. Impressive, she thought to herself, but was he any good with it? Intrigued, she raised an eyebrow and leaned forward more.

"You ready?" Morgan called out to Nathan.

Nathan glanced over at Kris, who was still staring at him, and winked teasingly. She rolled her eyes at him, but continued to watch on as he cracked his knuckles. What was he going to pull out of his sleeve this time? He looked back at Morgan and nodded. Morgan charged forward in that instant, sword blazing, and came at Nathan. Nathan dodged the attack and swung the chain side around, slamming into Morgan's back and knocking him forward. Morgan swung his sword back around, swiping it over Nathan's head as Nathan tucked his body in and rolled across the deck, springing back up and swinging his sickle into Morgan's sword. Kris's eyes were glued on Nathan, his movements much quicker than she would have ever expected.

Nathan threw the chain forward and knocked the sword clean out of Morgan's hand. Morgan ducked down as Nathan swung the sickle over his head, and rolled over to his sword. But Nathan swiftly managed to pin Morgan down, holding the sickle up to his throat. He smirked down at Morgan, as if to gloat, and helped Morgan stand to his feet. The fight ended almost as quickly as it had started, and Kris remained motionless as Morgan patted Nathan on the back.

"You never cease to amaze me Nathan." Morgan said, chuckling as he put his sword back in its holder. Nathan shrugged nonchalantly and headed back towards the stairs, as if to head down towards the kitchen.

Russell laughed, apparently seeing the expression on Kris's face and patted her back. "You seem surprised."

Kris brushed off his hand with a smile. "Not necessarily all that surprised. I figured he knew how to fight, just didn't know he was that good."

"Yeah, he's the only one of us that knows how to use a sickle and chain. Always been really good at it. He's kind of like Christopher as well; he's also really good at hand-to-hand combat. But his expertise is his sickle." Russell replied, standing up and leaving Kris to go over to talk to the other guys.

Morgan looked at the dark clouds overhead and looked back at the rest of the crew. "We need to be wary of the storm, so everyone be on guard. We'll post-pone the rest of training until it passes."

As the rest of the guys began talking amongst themselves about the storm and their future training, Kris stood up and managed to sneak away without any of them noticing, heading after Nathan. She had a few questions of her own to ask him. His hands were tucked into his pockets, as she caught up with him, leisurely walking down the hallway towards the kitchen. Almost as if he were expecting her to follow after him.

"Nice fight." She said as she walked up behind him.

He turned to look at her over his shoulder, smirk still firmly set on his face. "Thanks."

Kris folded her arms behind her back as she walked closer towards him. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

Nathan had a twinkle in his eye as the two of them continued down the hallway together. "If I said none of your business, would you leave it at that?"

"Probably not princess. I'd probably just annoy the piss out of you first."

He chuckled. "Didn't figure so."

"So are you going to tell me or am I going to just have to find ways to bug you?"

He glanced over at her, his smirk widening. "What do you mean 'have to find ways'? You seem to be pretty good at it to begin with."

Kris walked in front of him, stopping him in his tracks and smiling up at him defiantly. "Wasn't it you who said that I needed to open up more? Isn't just a one way street there princess, it's your turn to share."

Nathan snorted. "You sure are stubborn aren't you?"

"Almost as stubborn as you are."

Nathan looked at her dubiously for a moment, as if he were searching for something. What he was looking for, she would never know, but she remained firm and stood defiantly in front of him, her arms crossed behind her back as she waited. He leaned in closer to her, still looking amused. As Kris looked up at him, she noticed how much taller he was than herself, having to lean her head back quite a bit to look up at him.

"You know, I'll have to hand it to you. You keep on surprising me. I've never known a woman quite like yourself. One that pisses me off yet intrigues me at the same time." Nathan whispered as devilish eyes pierced hers. What exactly did he mean by that? Kris wasn't sure, but she found herself blushing all over again. What was it about this man that made her feel so vulnerable, like no one else ever had before? She had always been in control of her emotions, cold, calculated, sarcastic, like a proper thief should be. But every time he talked to her like that, she found her mind just going completely blank; completely vulnerable to whatever it was that he was going to do.

"And you keep trying to change the subject." She countered, trying not to show her confusion over his statement, smiling up at him.

"You're not the only former thief around here babe." He replied, his voice almost in a whisper.

He winked at her and went to ruffle the hair on her head, before she could ask him anything further. His big hand gentle teased the top of her head, and she closed her eyes as his hand ruffled her hair. His hand was big and warm, warmer than she would've expected, and it felt surprisingly nice on her head. Making use of the distraction, Nathan then quickly made his way around her and into the kitchen, closing the door behind him. Kris opened her eyes and looked at the door for a moment, thinking of what he'd just said. A former thief huh? A devious smile broke out on her face. This was certainly going to be interesting. She then followed after him into the kitchen.

"A former thief, huh?" Kris asked, following Nathan into the kitchen. Nathan was already beginning to prepare dinner, and merely glanced at her when she came up next to him, her hand on her hip.

"Yep."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"You didn't ask."

Kris rolled her eyes. "Well it's something you could've shared when you found out I used to be one as well."

Nathan chuckled. "You weren't exactly keen on sharing that information yourself, what makes you think I'd tell you that?"

"Well I thought we were…" She started but stopped, her voice fading.

He stopped what he was doing and looked at her, raising an eyebrow at her. "We were what?"

She shrugged, feeling her cheeks blush as she looked away sheepishly. "I-I don't know, friends or something."

She glanced over at him to see that his face was closer to hers than before, his eyes teasing as he smirked at her. "Is that what we are?"

"I guess I assumed we were but…" She went to say, but her sentence was cut short when the ship suddenly rocked violently to one side, and the two of them went flying across the room.


	14. Chapter 14

The ship suddenly rocked violently as Kris was speaking with Nathan, sending both of them flying across the kitchen. The sudden movement took both by surprise, as they tumbled across the room. Kris cried out slightly as she slammed up against the wall on the other side of the room, her forehead hitting one of the kitchen shelves as she hit the wall with the front of her body. Instantly falling back down against the floor, she shook her head, stunned. What the hell just happened? She quickly looked up to see Nathan, who'd slammed up against the part of the wall next to her, rubbing the back of his head.

As the room continued to lean dangerously to one side, one of the kitchen table's began to slide towards them. Using her good leg, she kicked out at Nathan, kicking him out of the way as the table slammed up against the wall where he'd been. Kris cried out again as the table crashed into the wall loudly, knocking kitchen utensils, pots, and pans noisily to the floor.

"Are you ok?" Kris called out to Nathan as the ship seemed to return back to its normal position.

Nathan stood up from where he'd fallen and adjusted himself, his back facing her. "Yeah I'm fine. But what the hell did you kick me for?"

"To knock you out of the way of the table stupid!" She replied sharply, sitting up.

"Who the hell are you calling stupid you…" Nathan started but as the room quickly, and brutally, tilted in the opposite direction, he stopped as they both tumbled across the room once again. Kris felt a hand wrap around her wrist and looked around to see Nathan, who had managed to grab a hold of the edge of the door, pulling her up against him and holding onto her as they tried to balance in the room. His arm wrapped around her waist as he held the edge of the door with the other, biting at his lower lip as he struggled to hold the door in his hand. Kris found herself clinging to Nathan as he held her. She felt somehow safe in his arms.

"What the hell is going on outside?" Kris asked.

"No idea, but I'd certainly like to figure that out." Nathan replied as he held on. The room gradually returned back to its normal position, and Nathan released his hold on both the door and her. He moved his fingers about, to relax them as Kris looked around the kitchen. Food was scattered everywhere, utensils littered the floors and some of the tables were overturned. What a mess…

Nathan turned his head about to look at her. "Hey wait, are you alright?!" He asked her suddenly, grabbing a hold of her face, releasing his hold around her waist.

"What do you mean? I'm fine."

He delicately reached forward, touching her forehead lightly. As soon as his fingers touched her, she winced, feeling a sore spot where his fingers were. He pulled back and showed her his fingers, slightly red with blood. She instinctively reached up to touch the spot, but Nathan stopped her with one hand.

"Don't, let me." He said quietly, reaching over to one of the drawers and pulling a washcloth out. He brought the cloth up and dabbed at the spot on her head, and Kris winced again. He dabbed at the spot with the cloth gently. She felt embarrassed at having him dab at whatever wound she had on her head, but her eyes met his and they stared at each for a moment as he wiped at her forehead. Russell's words echoed in her mind as she looked away shyly. Why was it that he thought Nathan was so fond of her? They seemed to argue constantly, he teased her mercilessly, he was cocky and stubborn, and yet… there was something about him…

Nathan smiled softly. "You know, you sure seem to have a knack for getting yourself injured."

"The only time I've really ever been injured has been around you guys. You guys must be just bad luck on my health or something like that."

"Well, either way… thank you… for just now…" He said sheepishly.

Kris looked up into his eyes. "Y-You're welcome. Thank you too…" Nathan nodded as he dabbed a few more times at her forehead and tossed the cloth away.

He nodded with his head towards the door. "Come on, let's go find out what that was about." Kris nodded her head in agreement and followed after Nathan as they ran down the hall, heading towards the deck. Thunder roared from above, and Kris could see the rain slamming down onto the deck as they made their way towards the staircase. The crew was running around on the deck like ants running towards the ant hill in a rain storm. Wind blew angrily around the ship, whistling in the air restlessly. She and Nathan split as they ran out onto the deck. Kris ran and went up to Russell, who fighting with some sails.

"What happened just now?" She shouted, so her voice could be heard over the sounds of the storm.

"Storm got worse, is knocking the ship about a good bit. Captain wants us to tie down the sails and get the hell off deck."

"How can I help?"

He jerked his head in the other direction, further down the deck where Thomas was. "Go help Thomas tie down those sails. He seems to be having trouble getting them down!"

Kris scurried across the deck towards Thomas. The ship shook violently underneath her feet, but Kris managed to keep her balance, hastily moving across the floor so as not to fall over. She reached Thomas and grabbed a hold of a section that was flying up out of Thomas's reach.

"I'll hold these down if you'll tie them!" She shouted to him.

Thomas looked up at her and smiled. "Sure, thanks!" Kris held down her section of the sails, struggling to keep them down as the wind kicked up around them. Thomas grabbed the rope and began tying down the sections as she held them firmly in her arms. Kris glanced up at one of the rods hanging above their heads, blowing around dangerously in the wind. She thought of saying something to Thomas about it, but he was busy tying down the sails in her arms.

"Only a little bit more Miss Kris, can you hold it a bit longer?" Thomas shouted over to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine!"

It was hard to see very far across the deck, as the rain had thickened, making visibility fairly limited. Where was everyone else? Were they all still on the deck too? Although she too didn't know most of them very well, she found herself worrying about them as the ship continued to rock in the harsh weather. Was this what it was like to have friends? To worry about their well-being more than your own? Is that what it was about? She'd never really had that many friends in her life, so she wasn't sure exactly what it was she was supposed to expect when it came to that. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Russell and Nathan tying down some more of the sails in the distance, both of them fighting against the harsh winds as she and Thomas were.

A large snap from overhead awoke Kris from her thoughts, and she looked up at the rod, which had apparently broken away, and came sailing down towards them. She shouted out at Thomas to duck, but as he looked up at her, the rod came down and slammed into his midsection, sending him flying across the slick deck. Kris released the sails and ran over and managed to grab Thomas's wrist as his body crashed over the side of the ship.


	15. Chapter 15

Kris clung onto Thomas's wrist as his body dangled over the side of the ship. The impact appeared to have knocked him unconscious, as he wasn't moving to help her any. She called out his name a few times, her cries going unheard as he hung limp in her grasp. His wrists were slippery because of the rain, but she managed to keep a good grip on him, grabbing at his shirt with her other hand to hold him steady. She tried to pull him back over, but he was heavier than she'd expected, and she found herself struggling with his unconscious body, limp over the cold ocean waters below. She tried to anchor herself on the deck to pull, but the slick surface prevented her from doing so.

The ship tilted dangerously to one side again, and Kris could feel as a wave of water crashed into her back from the other side of the ship. She closed her eyes and kept a death grip on Thomas as the cold water passed over the both of them. The rain continued to sting as it pounded against her, but she opened her eyes and attempted to pull Thomas over again. The familiar throb in her leg caused her eyes to glaze over slightly and groan in frustration. Of course her leg would do something like that at a time like this. But she was not even close to giving up just yet, and even if she broke her leg clean off, she wasn't going to let this kid fall overboard.

"What the hell are you doing over there?" She heard a voice from behind her calling. She glanced over her shoulder to see Eduardo coming towards her, giving her a suspicious glare.

"Help me!" She shouted at him, looking back down at Thomas as she struggled to keep a grip on him. Instead of making some sort of snippy comment as he usually would, he ran over to where she was and peered over the edge.

"Thomas!" He yelled and reached forward to grab at the other side of Thomas's shirt. The both of them pulled and grabbed at Thomas, hauling him back over the side of the ship. With Eduardo's help, Thomas's limp body finally came over the edge, sliding onto the wet deck surface. Still unconscious and unmoving, Kris immediately began worrying. She quickly came forward and pressed her head against his chest as he lay on the ground, listening carefully. She sighed with relief as she looked up at Eduardo.

"He's alive, his heart's still beating and he's breathing. Help me get him downstairs!" Eduardo nodded and stooped forward, grabbing Thomas and throwing him over one shoulder.

She followed after him as the two of them hurried across the deck, stopping only briefly as the deck teetered once again. The slippery deck surface started to cause Eduardo to slide back, threatening to send both him and Thomas flying back across the deck. She pushed Eduardo forward as he began to fall back, unbalanced as he tried to hold Thomas and himself up. Eduardo glanced back at her once as she pushed him. She continued to push him forward as they finally made their way to the staircase, and Eduardo grabbed the railing for the staircase, pulling all of them down the stairs to the safety of below. They panted as they relaxed momentarily, relieved that they were able to make it to safety.

Kris looked up at Eduardo. "Come on, we need to take him to Christopher."

Eduardo's eyebrows knitted together as he looked back at her. "You might need to get looked at as well."

"What do you mean?"

"You're bleeding." He replied, pointing with his free hand at her forehead. Kris brought her hand to her forehead, pressing delicately against the moist area and bringing her fingers down to inspect. The cut on her forehead from earlier must've reopened, as her fingers were slightly red with her blood.

Kris shrugged. "I'll live, unfortunately for you Cyclops. Just take Thomas to Christopher, he needs him more than I do right now." Eduardo looked to consider making some sort of snide comment, but appeared to decide otherwise. Well that was a first, she thought briefly. If she hadn't been mistaken, Eduardo looked as if he wasn't going to say something smart back at her. Morgan suddenly appeared from around the corner, and quickly rushed over to them.

"What's going on here? What happened?" He asked upon seeing Thomas.

"Thomas was almost knocked overboard, but Kris saved him." Eduardo said, nodding his head politely to Kris and Morgan as he shuffled past them towards Christopher's office quickly. Kris raised an eyebrow at him as he disappeared down the hall, Thomas hoisted over his shoulder.

Morgan peered down at her. "You saved Thomas?"

"Sort of yeah. But Eduardo helped me hoist him back over so it wasn't all just me."

"What happened?"

"One of the rods came loose and knocked him out and was going overboard."

"But you managed to catch him?"

"Yeah."

Morgan nodded thoughtfully and smiled down at her, bringing his hand up to ruffle her hair. "Well done Kris."

She looked away bashfully. "I just helped him, it's not that big of a deal."

Morgan placed a hand on her shoulder. "It is to me. Thank you."

"Y-You're welcome."

"Now, make sure you get that head of yours looked at as well. Wouldn't want that thing to get infected now would we?" He asked as he winked at her, turned on his heel, and headed back down the hall.

She leaned up against the wall, allowing her throbbing leg to rest as she dabbed at her forehead with her sleeve. She winced as the fabric touched the reopened wound, but continued to try to clean it on her own. Christopher would have his hands full with Thomas and anyone else who was more seriously injured. He didn't need her on top of that.

The storm raged on outside, and she grabbed onto the railing as the ship tilted in one direction again, not quite as violent as it had been. She held on until the ship returned back to its normal position, and she groaned in frustration, her leg beginning to hurt once again. Christopher had been right. She'd put too much pressure on it lately, and it wasn't healing as quickly as she'd hoped. Glancing down the hall where Christopher's office was, she shook her head and turned to head back to her room. If she just sat down for a while, it would probably stop throbbing so much, so she grabbed onto the railing and limped towards the room. Lightning illuminated the hallway in front of her, helping to guide her.

"What in the hell are you doing now babe?" She heard from behind her, and she rolled her eyes once again. Great. How was it he always seemed to pop up at times like this?

She turned to look at him and gave him a sarcastic grin. "Just thought I'd go lay down for a bit. Kind of over this whole 'ocean storm' thing."

The smug smile that had been on his face disappeared as he looked at her, his eyebrows knitting together. "You're bleeding again."

"It appears that way, now if you'll excuse me…" She said as she turned around and tried her best to walk away as normally as she could. But as she put pressure back down on her injured leg, she winced and grabbed at the railing. Nathan rushed to her side then, grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling back as she grappled for the railing. Before she could protest, he knelt forward and grabbed the back of her knees, causing her to fall back into his arm. He hoisted her up, in a princess carry, and began walking down the hallway.

She groaned. "Oh for god's sake, I'm fine. Put me down already would ya?"

He shook his head as he headed down towards their room. "Nope. You need to get off your legs for a bit. I think I've got a first aid kit somewhere in our room, so I'll just bandage up your head."

She rolled her eyes. "Would you stop fussing over me please and put me down?"

"No."

"Alright fine, just drop me off in our room and do me a favor then would you?"

"What?"

"Would you go down to Christopher's office and check on Thomas for me? I want to make sure he's alright."

Nathan looked down at her. "What do you mean? What happened to Thomas?"

"He was knocked unconscious when one of the rods came loose and was almost knocked overboard."

"He what?! Wait, what do you mean almost got knocked overboard?"

"Well I managed to catch him before he fell, but I had to have Eduardo help me bring him back over because I couldn't hoist him over all by my…"

"Wait, you saved Thomas?" Nathan asked, stopping in his tracks as they entered their room. She pushed at him until he went over and placed her down on her bed.

"I'm going to ignore the surprised tone of your voice momentarily just because I'm tired. But yes, _I _helped Thomas. With Eduardo's help that is. That so hard to believe princess?"

"Not at all actually. That wasn't what I meant when I said that. It just explains why you're leg seems to be hurting again."

She grabbed one of the towels next to her bed and began drying her hair. It was soaking wet from the rain, and she rubbed at her hair delicately, looking away from Nathan's gaze. "Yeah well, as we've both said before, shit happens."

Nathan suddenly came forward and crouched down in front of her, so that he was peering up at her face. The action took her by surprise, but he smiled gently up at her, dumbfounding her. "You helped one of my friends today. Thank you."

"N-No problem." She replied back quietly, stunned. His words had taken her by surprise that she hadn't known what else to say. Even Kris, with her sarcastic, quick wit, couldn't think of anything smart alacky to say back as she normally would. Nathan's soft brown eyes looked so gentle and genuine, that she couldn't have even if she'd wanted to. He seemed genuinely thankful to her, and she couldn't bring herself to say anything more, but merely looked away in embarrassment.

He quickly ruffled her hair once again, and then stood back up. "I'll go check on Thomas real quick. I'll be right back so don't touch that cut on your head until I get back."

With that he turned and left the room, leaving her looking at the door entrance, completely dumbfounded. Did he really just thank her? She brought her hand up and felt her cheeks, which were now burning and red. She shook her head and continued to pat dry her hair. Why was it that he always seemed to surprise her like that? Was it that he knew that his sudden moves like that caused her heart to thunder in her chest?


	16. Chapter 16

Several moments later, Kris sat on the bed as Nathan cleaned the cut on her forehead. Nathan had come back from checking on Thomas and had told her that he was going to be alright. He said that Thomas had gotten the wind knocked out of him, and a good bump on his head from when he'd hit the railing, but other than that he said he'd be just fine. Nathan had tried to get her to go up to Christopher's office to have her checked out as well, but she'd refused, stating that he would be busy with trying to get everyone else checked that she would just be a bother.

"Well, I'm going to have Christopher come and look at your leg later whether you like it or not." Nathan said as he dabbed at her head with a cloth, some antiseptic on the end of it.

"I'm fine, he doesn't need to do anything. All of you have done enough for me, you don't have to fuss." She winced as the antiseptic stung slightly.

Nathan lowered the cloth and gazed into her eyes, his expression serious. "You really aren't used to depending on other people, are you?"

She shrugged. "Not really. Never really been my style. Now, we never got to finish our conversation from earlier, so you can't keep running from it."

Nathan smirked. "Which part of that conversation did you want to continue?"

"You said earlier that you used to be a thief too."

"Ah. That part. Yeah, so?"

"Well tell me about it."

He chuckled. "I'm not going to tell you about it."

"Oh come on, what else are you going to do right now? The kitchen's a complete disaster area right now, and you won't be able to get back in until the guys help you pick up some of the stuff in there. So come on, talk to me."

He raised an eyebrow as he turned and pulled a band aid out from the kit sitting at the end of the bed. "It was a long time ago."

"How old were you when you started?"

He sighed. "Well let's see… I'm twenty-seven now so I was probably about… seventeen or eighteen..."

Kris nodded. "What got you started in it?"

"Don't think you need to know any more than that babe." He said, pressing the bandage against her forehead.

"Please? I… I want to know more about you." She said rather timidly, looking into his eyes.

The annoyed expression that had been plastered to his face seemed to vanish as he looked into her eyes. Kris really did want to know more about Nathan. She wasn't sure why, but there was just something that drew her to him, like a moth to the flame. She'd be lying if she said that lately she hadn't been developing certain feelings towards him, not that she'd ever admit that to him. It must've just been the way he showed her that softer side of himself, that side that most of the other crew members said they'd never seen before. But as she sat there looking into those deep pools of brown in his eyes, she realized that she like him, and more than just a friend. He was the first man that she truly wanted to know, and not because she had to. But because she wanted to. He may drive her crazy at moments, and say just as many sarcastic things to her as she did to him, but underneath it all, he actually seemed to care about her, and would only show that on occasions such as this.

His expression grew more serious as he leaned in towards her. "Why?"

"What do you mean why? I just want to know more about you. Isn't that what you do when you want to be around someone?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You want to be around me?"

She folded her arms across her chest. "You're changing the subject princess."

He chuckled. "You know, I've never met a woman quite like yourself. You continuously surprise me."

"I'll take that as a compliment, but you're still trying to change the subject there princess. Now unless you want me to be just as aloof when you ask me things, start talking."

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I started thieving after that cook I told you about died."

"The cook? But you said he passed away only a few years ago."

Nathan shrugged. "Well I lied."

Kris cocked her head to the side, continuing to look in his eyes. "What really happened to him?"

Nathan looked away, so as not to meet her gaze. "Robbers. Robbers came in and robbed him blind when he was closing the restaurant up, and they killed him. Ironic isn't it? Robbers killed my father, and I become one of them to get even."

Kris's eyes widened. "Wait… did you just say father?"

"Yeah… I did…" He said quietly.

"The cook was your father?"

Nathan nodded solemnly. "Yeah."

"Oh Nathan…"

"I was home sick that day. And when he never came home that night, I went to go look for him."

Kris felt tears stinging the back of her eyes. "I'm… I'm sorry Nathan… I'm sorry about your dad…"

He cleared his throat. "Don't be, it was a long time ago."

She smiled gently at him, understanding. "Your bandana, it was your dad that gave it to you, wasn't it?"

Nathan nodded again, more slowly. "Yeah. Don't tell the guys I told you about that. They don't know."

Kris nodded, reaching out and taking his hand in hers. "I won't say anything. I promise."

She wasn't sure why she did it, perhaps to try to comfort him, but she placed her hand over his and squeezed gently. He turned back to look at her, looking rather surprised as he glanced down at the hand covering his. It was the first time she'd shown him any kind of affection, it was the first time she'd really shown anyone any kind of affection like that, and she felt her face burning as she continued to hold his hand. But hearing the pain in his voice as he'd spoken, the pain she was sure he hadn't wanted to show her or anyone else for that matter, she'd just wanted to comfort him, in any way she could. Especially now knowing that she was the only one of the crew who knew about it. She felt sort of privileged, him sharing that with her. Sure she'd pushed him to tell her, but he seemed to trust her enough now to tell her something like that. Her heart hammered in her chest as he looked back up into her eyes.

He started to lean in towards her slowly, and Kris felt herself unconsciously leaning back towards him. Like some sort of magnet being drawn to him, she felt as he pressed his forehead against hers. His eyes looked calm and questioning as he looked into hers, his forehead against hers. But his eyes also looked different than they had before, looking almost vulnerable. She'd never seen that in him before. He always was so cocky and smart alacky, it softened her expression. It was such a simple act, having his head pressed against hers, but yet it was so intimate and new that it stole Kris's breath, and she merely stared back into those two pools of brown staring back at her.

Suddenly a knock came from the door, causing both of them to instantly pull back in surprise. "Nathan? Kris? You guys in there?"

Nathan cleared his throat. "Yeah, we're in here. What's up?"

Russell creaked the door open slightly to peer in at them. "Captain wants to have a meeting in his office here soon, and he wants all of us there."

Kris nodded. "Thank you Russell. We'll be there in a minute."

Russell nodded to them and closed the door back. The two of them sat there quietly for several long moments, neither of them looking at the other. Nathan stood up suddenly next to the bed and stretched his arms over his head.

He extended a hand to her. "Come on, you're going to need someone to lean on if you want to keep your leg from getting any worse."

She smiled and took his hand. "Thank you."


	17. Chapter 17

Nathan and Kris were the last two of the crew members to walk into the Captain's office. With the exception of Thomas, who was missing, the rest of the crew were present, all standing around the Captain's desk. Kris continued to lean against Nathan, hobbling into the office quietly. She grabbed one of the chairs in the corner of the room, trying not to draw too much attention to herself. The throbbing in her leg had resided, and she hoped that its nuisance would soon be gone. But Christopher seemed to notice the two slipping in, and walked over to her. Apparently seeing her leaning against Nathan as they'd come in, he immediately began checking her leg as Morgan, Eduardo, and Russell were leaned in over the map, speaking in hushed tones.

"Why didn't you come by my office earlier?" Christopher asked her, his voice quiet as the other guys continued talking.

Nathan gave her one of his 'I told you so' looks, and Kris rolled her eyes. "I didn't want to be a bother."

"Doesn't look you've done any more damage to it, but you need to keep off of it completely for at least a day or two. No exceptions. But I'd say that by then it should be fairly well healed up. But no more putting too much pressure on it until then, got it?" Christopher said up to her as he finished inspecting her leg.

Kris nodded. "Got it. How's Thomas holding up?"

Christopher smiled. "He's doing fine, thanks to you. He's sleeping in my office right now. He got the wind knocked out of him, that's for sure. But he was extremely lucky."

"Eduardo helped too you know…"

Christopher ruffled her hair. "I know. But still, thank you."

Morgan looked up from the map and smiled upon seeing Nathan and Kris. "Well, now that everyone is here, we can get down to business. First, how much damage did we take on because of the storm?"

"Well, we lost some cargo on the deck, and most of the rooms below deck are a complete disaster, especially the kitchen from what I've seen, but other than that the Sirius didn't take on much damage."

Morgan nodded. "That's good at least."

The ship rolled underneath their feet again, and the group grabbed onto the walls as they teetered, the storm continuing to rage on outside. Nathan grabbed the chair Kris was sitting in, holding her back as he anchored himself against the wall. The group waited until the ship returned to its normal position before they continued their conversation. Kris could hear another crack of thunder from outside as she looked over at Eduardo and Morgan.

Eduardo looked up from the map. "Actually, ironically, the storm's helping us."

"How's that?" Kris asked.

"It's actually pushing us further down the coast, and at a faster rate than we'd been going. It cut the remaining time until we reach port from a week down to just a day or two."

"Really? That's great!"

Christopher glanced over at her. "This means that we need you now, more than ever, to rest that leg of yours so that it can heal. We're going to need you when we get there."

Kris nodded. "Ok."

"Any sign of Sterling?" Nathan asked.

Morgan shook his head. "Not yet, but I have a feeling he's not too far away, so we still need to keep our eyes peeled."

"Well, if we should reach the port within at least two days, so we need to discuss exactly what we're going to do when we get there." Christopher said.

"I agree. Well, we already decided that upon our arrival there, we would stake out for at least one night to see if Sterling shows up…"

Kris sat forward. "What will we do if he does show up?"

Morgan smiled. "We do what we do best. We'll fight them off and throw them off our trail."

"How will we do that?"

"Simple, we'll have one of us act as a decoy and lead them away from where we actually go, then have that decoy meet up with us at a different spot."

"Who's going to be the decoy?"

"Likely Thomas as he's the smallest and fastest of us."

"Well what about me? I could do it." Kris protested.

Nathan instantly stepped forward. "Out of the question."

"And why the hell not?"

Russell nodded. "I agree with Nathan on this one Kris. If they do find out you're alive, and you're the decoy, it'll be a lot more dangerous for you if they do catch you."

Kris narrowed her eyes. "We're under the assumption here that I'm going to get caught. Why the hell are we assuming that?"

Nathan looked down at her. "We're not assuming anything Kris. You just have no idea what these guys are capable of. We do. And especially since they've tried to kill you once, it just gives them extra motivation to try to kill you again." Kris looked up at Nathan. He just called her by her name. He rarely ever did that. He usually just went with 'babe' or 'you', but hardly ever called her by her name.

Morgan nodded. "Nathan's right. It's not that we doubt your abilities Kris, as we all know that you could probably kick any of our asses in a millisecond. We're just worried of what they would do to you _if_ they did end up catching you."

"But I want to help. I'm _not _going to be some damsel in distress that just sits back and does nothing."

Russell laughed. "We're not expecting you to do that either. No, as you're now one of our better fighters, we're going to need you to help us fight if push comes to shove."

As Kris fell silent, nodding her understanding, Morgan smiled. "Alright then. As soon as we arrive at port, I'll go check all of us in at the local motel and we'll stay there to look out. I'll have some of you run out to the market and grab a few supplies so that we have plenty for our journey. We'll double up on rooms so as not to appear too suspicious. Kris, you want to room with someone other than Nathan this time?"

As Kris went to open her mouth, Nathan shook his head and folded his arms, interrupting her. "No, she'll stay with me." Kris looked up at him curiously, but he continued to look away from her, keeping his gaze settled on Morgan. Why did he want her to stay with him? Was he just being overprotective again, just wanting to keep an eye on her? Or was it something else?

Morgan's grin grew wider, but he nodded at Nathan. "Then it's settled."

As the rest of the crew began to disperse, Christopher looked over at Nathan. "Make sure she stays off her leg."

Nathan's eyes seemed to twinkle as he smiled cockily over at Kris. "Don't worry, I will."

Thunder roared once again from outside, and Kris felt the ship teeter underneath their feet. They all remained motionless, waiting for the ship to lean to one side, but when it didn't, they quickly all decided to turn in for the night. The crew began filing out of the room, and Nathan turned and stooped down in front of Kris. As she went to ask him what he was doing, he grabbed her around the waist, and practically threw her over his shoulder.

"What the hell do you think you're doing there princess?" She protested as he hauled her up and began walking towards their room.

"Christopher said to stay off your leg, so I'm just listening to the doctor's orders."

"I don't think that he meant that I have to be carried everywhere either smart ass."

Nathan chuckled. "Don't worry babe, I won't drop you." She was so used to him calling her that by this point, she felt as if it were just a second name for herself, and she sighed exaggeratedly. She tried to avidly protest once more, but it went unheard as he continued to walk down the hallway. She wasn't sure whether to laugh at his almost chauvinistic behavior, carrying her in this manner, or to slap him silly. She instead swayed against his shoulder as he carried her, choosing to remain silent until they reached their room. Although she hated that he was being so over-the-top about her leg, she appreciated his concern.

She looked to see as they walked through the familiar door frame, and she looked over her shoulder at him. "Alright, we're back in our room now, would you please put me down?" Kris barked at Nathan. He walked over to the bed and plopped her down on the soft surface, grinning down at her mischievously.

She propped herself up on her elbows as she looked up at him. "Ok, what gives?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you so overly protective of me all of a sudden?"

Nathan looked away. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh cut the crap Nathan, you and I know exactly what I'm talking about. Why did you get all upset when I suggested that I be the decoy?"

Nathan shrugged. "I'm not allowed to be upset when…" He stopped short of what he was going to say, and turned, walking over to the other side of the room towards the cabinet.

"When what Nathan?" She asked gently, calming her voice as she looked at him, his back tense as he turned away from her.

He rolled his eyes at her as he left the cabinet and went over to where his stuff was laid out on the floor. Laying down on the floor, he turned away from her. "Just because alright? Don't get your panties in a wad. Now get some sleep would you?"

Kris sighed, rubbing the back of her head. She felt bad that he was still sleeping down there on the floor, and especially with the storm going on outside, he wouldn't be able to get any sleep down there. From the little bags that had recently begun forming under his eyes, she probably could safely assume that he already wasn't getting much sleep because of it. The logical side of her told her to leave him the hell down there and go to sleep, as he was being weird about why he got all upset earlier. But the softer part of her, the part of her that seemed to be growing larger every day around him, said otherwise. However stubborn and boar-headed he was acting now, in his own way, she knew he was trying to look after her. She didn't need it, as she was plenty capable of taking care of herself, but it touched her slightly that he cared enough. She'd been her own for so long that she'd forgotten what it was like to have someone who was genuinely concerned for her.

She peered over the edge of the bed at him. "Hey… Nathan?"

"What?"

"You know… I can't imagine that the floor is very comfortable."

He turned his head slightly to look up at her, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "It's not…"

"Well… I mean… we can share the bed for tonight, I know you probably haven't been getting a whole lot of sleep down there like that… so you can sleep up here in the bed tonight, if you want…"

Nathan sat up and looked at her curiously. "You're serious?"

Kris nodded, looking away as she lay back against the bed. "Yes, but don't make me regret it. Two rules, you stay on your side of the bed, and don't you dare say some sort of sarcastic comment or anything like that or I swear I'll kick you back down to the floor so quickly that your head will be spinning."

She heard him chuckle and heard him stand up. "Yes ma'am." She felt the bed move, Nathan crawling onto the bed next to her, and she closed her eyes.

"Good night." She whispered.

"Night." He whispered back.


	18. Chapter 18

Several days later, Kris sat back against the headboard of the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Nathan had kept his word to Christopher and hadn't let her move from the bed for two days. Kris feared she'd go mad of boredom at first, but Nathan had been good about keeping her company. At one point, he'd even brought in a deck of cards that he'd stolen from the office, and taught her how to play rummy. The time he wasn't down there with her, he was either cooking, or training with everyone else upstairs. Kris was rather disappointed when she couldn't train with everyone, but Nathan and Christopher both were adamant about her letting her leg heal before she did anything like that. But now she sat there, staring up idly at the ceiling, bored out of her mind as Nathan cooked lunch for everyone. Footsteps echoed in the hallway and she looked up at the doorway to see Thomas standing there, looking at her sheepishly. Kris smiled softly and waved him in, glad to have at least some human interaction.

"How are you feeling?" She asked him. He, like herself, had been ordered to stay in bed for at least a day to recover from the bump on his head. But the way he snuck into her room and closed the door, she knew he'd probably snuck out, likely bored out of his mind as well.

He smiled. "Much better, how about you?"

She groaned. "I'd be doing much better if this stupid leg of mine would just hurry the hell up and quit causing me so much trouble."

Thomas laughed. "Well, I'm sure it's doing much better now that it's gotten some time to heal."

"You sound like Christopher."

"I probably do. Anyway, I just wanted to come down here and thank you."

Kris sat forward. "Look, you really don't have to thank me for anything. I just managed to catch you, but Eduardo did most of the heavy lifting. He's the one who deserves the thanks."

Thomas nodded. "I know, and I've thanked him for that. But that still doesn't change the fact that if you hadn't been there, and if you hadn't have grabbed me, I might have fallen overboard and drowned. And for that, I sincerely thank you."

Kris smiled. "Well then, you're welcome. But hey, gotta help look over my crew mates, right?"

Without thinking, she reached forward and patted his head. He looked so much younger than he was, looking at her sheepishly as he was, and she just couldn't help herself. She might have still been new around there, and she might have a problem with opening up to people and making new friends, but she really did care about the guys on board. Through all of their meals together, talking and laughing over the past week and a half, she'd found herself growing closer to them. Though, as Russell had said, they all still didn't know her very well, she still felt close to them. Closer than she'd ever been with anyone. Even Thomas, with his child-like attitude, kind of made her think he was the little brother she'd never had. Most of them had acted slightly hostile to her when she'd come aboard, but after some time had passed, they, like herself, had loosened up. Most of them picked on her like no one's business, but she'd realized a while ago that like Nathan, it was just their way. They were still nowhere near being the best of buddies yet, but they were getting close, and to Kris, that meant more to her than she could say.

Thomas smiled as she ruffled his hair. "Yeah, we gotta look out for one another." She lowered her hand and sighed, rubbing the back of her neck.

"You know how long until we reach port?"

Thomas shrugged. "Not sure exactly, I just managed to sneak out of my room just now so I haven't had a chance to check."

A knock came from the door, and Thomas jumped up from his chair and looked at Kris, his eyes wide. "Christopher will kill me if he knows I left my room!" He whispered hoarsely to her.

Kris pointed towards the dresser. "Hide over there!" Thomas obeyed and jogged over towards Nathan's dresser and hid himself behind it, and Kris couldn't help but giggle, seeing his feet sticking out slightly.

She glanced up at the door. "Come in!"

The door opened and Christopher stepped inside, smiling. "Hey Kris, how are you feeling?"

"I'd be doing much better if I could leave the bed."

Christopher chuckled and walked over, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling her injured leg out from underneath the cover, inspecting it. "Well, I came to take a look at it to see how it was doing."

"Are we close to reaching port yet?" She asked as Christopher looked over her leg.

"Yes actually, we should be there later this afternoon… And it looks like your leg is doing a lot better, so you can put pressure on it again. The bruising in it seems to have healed for the most part, so I think I can say that it's pretty well healed up, however I wouldn't go too crazy with it if I were you."

Kris practically threw the covers away and sat on the edge of the bed, ready to get up and move around. "Thanks Christopher!"

Christopher chuckled as he grabbed his things and headed towards the door. As if he forgot something, he stopped and looked back at her. "By the way, I went to check on Thomas earlier but he wasn't in his room. Haven't seen him around have you?"

Kris shook her head. "Nope, haven't seen him. Maybe he went to the bathroom when you stopped by?"

Christopher shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps. Well, be ready to help dock the ship later this afternoon, I'll see you then." Kris waited until Christopher's footsteps disappeared down the hall before she stood up, hand on her hip, and looked over towards the dresser.

She giggled. "You can come out now." Thomas poked his head out and sighed, standing up and walking over towards the door with her.

"Thanks for that!"

She patted his back as the two of them walked into the hallway. "Don't worry about it. But if I were you I'd get back to your room before he comes by to check on you again."

Thomas laughed. "Yeah probably so. See ya!" He waved at her and hurried down the hallway towards his room.

Kris shook her head and shoved her hands in her pockets as she walked up the stairs to the deck. Clear blue skies unfolded above her, and the cool ocean breeze comforted her as she walked towards the side of the ship, leaning against it. The smell of the ocean salt filled her senses, and she inhaled the scent deeply, finding herself enjoying the smell a lot more than she ever thought she would. Even in her wildest imagination, she never thought that sailing the ocean would ever have been something she would've done, or enjoyed for that matter. But as she looked out across the expanse of the ocean, disappearing into the horizon, she didn't think she'd ever be able to part from it. Granted she'd spent most of her time on the ship below deck, but the time she had spent up on the deck had been wonderful. The sights, the smells, the feeling of the ocean breeze against her skin. It felt like paradise. How had she been able to live for so long without experiencing it?

"Slacking off I see." A voice came from behind her. A smirk spread across her face and she didn't even turn to see Eduardo as he came over, leaning against the ship next to her.

She continued to look out at the horizon. "What's the matter Cyclops? Haven't been able to haunt any little children's nightmares lately?"

Instead of replying with some tart response about chopping her into pieces, she heard him chuckle. "Quite the vicious little sprite today are we?"

She smirked. "When I need to be."

"Look, I didn't come over here to argue with you."

She glanced over at him, eyebrow raised. "You didn't?"

He smirked at her. "No, I didn't. I came over to ask for a truce between us."

"A truce? What the hell, are we two fighting nations or something?"

He rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant pipsqueak."

She chuckled. "I do. I'm just surprised to ever hear something like that come from _you_."

"Well don't get used to it. This is a one time deal."

She folded her arms across her chest. "What brought this on? Did Captain make you come over here?"

"No you imp, I came of my own free will. Now are we going to call it a truce from now on or what?"

Kris nodded slowly. "Yeah, sure truce." Eduardo stuck his hand out at her, and she cautiously shook it, looking up at him suspiciously as if he were trying to trick her into doing something. But he didn't. He shook her hand firmly in his and looked back out at the ocean.

"You did good the other day, with Thomas." Eduardo said, his gaze firmly forward.

"So did you."

"Well anyway, just be ready for later today when we reach port." Eduardo said, turning on his heel and walking back in the opposite direction. Kris smiled to herself as she leaned back against the ship. She wasn't sure what that had all been about, but she was slightly glad. Whether it meant that Eduardo trusted her now, or whether it just meant that he wasn't going to be as much of an ass to her, she wasn't sure. But it was a start.


	19. Chapter 19

Kris remained on the deck, watching as the ship began to near the port. Morgan had stopped by earlier and told her that she and Nathan would be the ones running out to grab a few supplies for their trip, and she looked down at the list he'd given her. Food, water bottles, rope, the basics essentially. She'd already gone downstairs and packed her few belongings in a sack that Nathan had lying around. Her two swords were slung over her shoulders, a feeling all too familiar to her. She smiled as she inhaled the salty air. It was true that having been on the ship for this amount of time made her realize how much she loved the sea, but she was also excited about getting back on land, if just for a few days.

"What you doing up here?" Kris heard someone ask from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to see Nathan coming up behind her, smirking. He had his own bag slung over one shoulder, and his sickle and chain tucked away at his hip, ready for use.

"Just watching us pull into port. Did you talk to Morgan?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, we have to go in and get the supplies. So once we dock the ship, you and I are just going to head straight out so we can get everything. Everyone else is going to set up shop at the motel for the night and keep a look out. Got it?"

"Yep."

Nathan smirked at her. "I packed the deck of cards in my bag."

She looked over at him. "You really get a kick out of kicking the crap out of me in rummy, don't you princess?"

Nathan chuckled. "Gotta learn how to play somehow babe. Plus it'll give us something to do when we have to bunk down for the night."

"That's true. And who knows, maybe I'll finally get good at it." She answered with a smile as she looked back out, watching the ship beginning to dock down. The last time she had seen land was when they'd made their stop in Moldor, and she was slightly glad to return back to land. If anything it gave her a chance to stretch her legs once again. Nathan walked over to the side of the ship, and leaned against it next to her. The sun was just beginning to set, casting the small town before them in an orange glow. Kris sighed contently and glanced at Nathan of the corner of her eye. The eyes that had been on her instantly looked away and he reddened. Kris couldn't help but giggle at him. But why was he looking at her like that? Several moments later, Morgan appeared next to them, smirking as the rest of the crew began tying down the ship. He leaned against the ship on the other side of Kris and looked out at the town as the crew docked the ship properly.

He glanced over at Kris and nodded. "You two are free to leave now. Don't take too long." Morgan remained leaning against the ship as Nathan and Kris stood up. They nodded in understanding and walked towards the ramp leading to the dock.

Kris looked at Nathan. "You might want to follow me this time around."

"And why's that?"

"You ever been here before?"

Nathan shook his head. "No."

"Exactly. I have. Now the closest place to get any of these items is on the other side of town, towards the cove. It's where most of the fisherman go around here to sell their fish and other supplies." She told him as they walked down onto the dock, and began walking through town.

"Alright." Nathan agreed without argument. Kris felt rather nostalgic as they ambled through the quiet town. It had been several years since she'd been there, and all the familiar sights and smells flooded into her memory. The ever-living smell of fish lingered in the air, mixed with the smell of the pastry shop down the street. An odd combination, but one that she had grown used to in the times she'd come to visit the small town. With Nathan at her side, the two of them made their way towards the little market, lists in hand.

Kris glanced at Nathan. "You think Sterling and them are here yet?"

Nathan shrugged. "Not sure, but if I know him, he's not very far away."

The two of them made their way into the small market, looking a lot smaller to Kris than she'd last remembered. It was further from the town than most local markets were; it was practically on the beach itself, likely because of the local fisherman coming in to sell their fish. That was the staple of the town, the fishing industry, and even now she could remember how many different kinds of fish she could always find there. It was the largest selection of fish on the entire island, as the fishing grounds off the coast was the best. The nearby cove echoed with the sounds of the waves crashing against it, a soothing sound that, even as a kid had always lulled Kris. She glanced up at Nathan to see that he had again been staring down at her, and upon her looking up at him, looked away.

She laughed. "What is it you keep looking at?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You keep looking at me. Do I have something on my face or something?"

"I thought you did but you don't so don't worry about it." He replied back nervously.

Kris shook her head, smirking. "Alright then. This section right here is the food and like supplies, you stay here and get these things and I'm going to go on the other side of the market to get the rest of it." She started to walk away but Nathan grabbed her arm and she looked back at him.

"I think it's a bad idea for us to split up." Nathan said calmly, his face serious.

Kris rolled her eyes and shook his hand off. "Relax, would you? We'll be able to get everything on the list that Captain needs in half the time. I know where they usually sell this other stuff, so when you get done just go stand by that building over there and wait for me. I won't be long." She nodded her head back towards the local pastry shop, the last building in town before you got to the market.

She smiled back at him as she walked away without another word, leaving him behind. In a way, she was kind of glad to be by herself for a little while, even if just for a few minutes. Gave her a chance to think. Glancing down at the list, she shuffled through the market to the other side. She walked up to one of the vendors and began picking out the things from the list, one at a time as she became lost in her own thoughts. Why had Nathan been staring at her earlier? He hadn't looked particularly angry, but rather calm actually, almost happy looking. It wasn't the fact that he'd been looking earlier that caused her mind so much confusion now, it was that the fact that his looking at her caused her heart to flutter.

What the hell was the matter with her? She was used to men looking at her. Hell, she'd worked in a bar; it was practically in the job description to have men ogling her. What was it about this one man looking at her like that that made her feel like she was on cloud nine? This one man who she always seemed to be arguing with about something no matter how stupid or miniscule it is, this one man who always surprised her by how concerned and worried he seemed to get about her, just when she would start to think that he really didn't care one way or the other about her. This one man that she wanted to be around more than anyone. She'd never experienced anything like this with anyone else before, and she wasn't sure exactly what to do or say. This was completely uncharted waters for her, and that alone was enough to scare her. Kris stopped for a moment. Her? Scared? Of what? How she felt about this one man? Well…. How did she feel about this man? It definitely wasn't hatred or anything of the like. And it wasn't the same as what she felt towards the rest of the crew. So what the hell was it?

Kris shook her head to awake her from her own thoughts, she collected the items from Captain's list and paid the merchant with the money that he'd slipped to her earlier. Shoving the items down into her bag, she turned to head back to meet up with Nathan. As she went to leave, a flag waving in the distance caught her attention. Although it had only appeared in the corner of her eye, she could see the long black flag flying in the breeze, attached to some sort of mast. She walked towards the edge of the market to get a better view, and held her breath as she saw ship beached further down the coast, the familiar black flag flying at full mast. Pirates. And Kris would bet her bottom dollar she knew exactly which pirates were there. As she went to turn back around to go warn Nathan, a cold, sweaty hand wrapped around her, covering her mouth.

"I could've sworn we killed you once before." A voice hissed in Kris's ear.


	20. Chapter 20

Kris didn't recognize the voice at her ear, but felt she could safely bet that it was one of Sterling's crew, come in to scout out the Sirius. The cold, clammy hand wrapped around her mouth tightened, and she felt as the person tried to start dragging her away. Where to she wasn't sure, but she knew sure as hell that she wasn't going anywhere. Kris narrowed her eyes and grabbed a hold of the person's shoulders, and with all of her strength, she threw the person over her shoulder. A move that she'd learned long ago while thieving on this very island. It proved to be quite effective, as the move caught the person completely unaware.

The person crashed to the ground with a dull thud, a look of astonishment plastered to their face as Kris, quick as lightning, pulled her swords from their holsters and held them up, covering their throat. The man before her, one of the shriveling excuses of a man that she'd seen the night that Sterling had burnt down her bar, looked dumbfounded as Kris held the swords up to his neck. She smirked as she nodded her head, indicating him to stand up. He slowly stood to his feet and Kris pushed him in the direction of where she and Nathan were to meet up. It would be bad for her to just leave him, as he would definitely run to tell Sterling where they were, not to mention to tell him that she was still alive. With the swords at the back of his neck, Kris pushed him down one of the side streets, hoping to avoid the rest of the crowd.

"You'll be sorry." The man said to her, his voice raspy.

She chuckled and pressed her swords harder against him. "We'll see about that. You haven't met _my_ friends yet."

Up ahead Kris could see Nathan leaning against the side of the building, his gaze in the direction of the town clock. She glanced up at the clock and realized that she'd been gone longer than she'd planned, and he was likely already pissed to begin with. She chuckled to herself as she pushed the man in Nathan's direction. He was going to _love _this. As she neared him, Nathan finally looked over in their direction, a combination of shock and anger on his face. He looked from Kris to the man in front of her and pulled out his sickle and chain, grabbing the man by the scruff of his neck and throwing him up against the wall, pressing the sickle to his throat.

"Who's this?" Nathan growled as he looked at the man.

Kris tucked one of her swords away as she went and stood next to Nathan. "A little friend of Sterling's."

Nathan nodded. "Ah ha. Sterling huh? How'd you find him?"

"He attacked me in the market earlier."

Nathan glanced over at her, his expression softened slightly. "You alright?"

"Never been better. Our friend here seems to have failed 'how to hold a woman hostage' 101. " Kris replied, shooting the man an extra venomous glare.

"Stupid bitch." The man snarled over at her.

Nathan slammed the man up against the wall again, digging his sickle against his neck. "Now now, that's no way to talk to a lady. Didn't anyone ever teach you any manners?"

Kris couldn't help but smirk. "Come on, we should take him back to the crew. Wouldn't want him running to tell his friends where we are." Nathan nodded his head in agreement and grabbed the guy by his collar, dragging him along as the three of them headed towards the motel where the rest of the crew was staying at. The man struggled against Nathan's grip, but with Nathan's sickle now digging in his side, he soon walked alongside them cooperatively.

They walked quietly into the motel, trying to draw as little attention to themselves as possible, and made their way up towards the crew. Morgan happened to be ambling down the hallway when Nathan and Kris appeared with the man, and he quickly motioned for them to enter his room. As he went to go gather the rest of the crew, Nathan and Kris tied the man down into one of the chairs in the room, making sure he couldn't run off.

The crew slowly filed into the room behind them, closing the door firmly as they gathered around the man. Once he finished tying him down, Nathan went over and leaned against the wall next to Kris as Morgan pulled a chair up and sat in front of the man. The scene reminded Kris of some sort of interrogation, and the sight of Morgan trying to look so serious made her smile, and she turned her face away to hide her expression until she could get it under control. Nathan, on the other hand, looked less than amused, looking rather deadly serious as he looked at the man in the chair. He looked much angrier than the rest of the crew did, and for the first time, his expression rather frightened Kris. What was he thinking? Why was he so angry?

"So tell me, what is it that you know?" Morgan asked, his voice smooth as molasses as he looked at the man calmly.

The man diverted his eyes. "I don't know anything."

Morgan's eyes twinkled as he poured his charm on thick. "Surely, you must realize the position you're in right now sir. No one knows you're here."

"I don't care what you try, my answer will remain the same. I don't know anything."

Eduardo stepped forward, pulling his pistol from his holster. "Oh enough of this." He jammed the butt of his pistol against the man's temple.

"Spill it. What's Sterling's crew up to?" Eduardo asked, keeping the pistol against the man's temple.

"Nothing! I don't know anything!" The man replied, his voice bitter.

Kris laughed as she stepped forward. "That's not threatening enough."

Eduardo glanced up at her, his expression befuddled. "How is this not threatening enough?"

"You all are pirates for god's sake. I'm a woman and even I wouldn't spill the beans that easily."

"Well then shrimp what would you suggest?"

Kris pulled her sword from behind her and stepped forward. "Do you mind?"

With his eyebrow firmly raised, Eduardo lowered his pistol and stepped back. "What's more intimidating than this?"

"This." Kris replied calmly as she walked forward and pressed the end of her sword into the man's crotch. The man's eyes widened considerably and she could see as sweat began to form at his brow. The rest of the crew remained dead silent as she and the man glared at one another, her sword trained firmly against his crotch.

"I… I don't… I don't know anything." The man said, sounding determined.

Kris sighed exaggeratingly, glancing over at Eduardo. "You're right, he needs more persuasion. You mind if I borrow your pistol for a moment?"

Without a word he slowly handed the pistol to her, looking just as surprised as the rest of the crew. Kris grabbed the pistol from his hand and cocked it, aiming it back at the man's crotch. A whimper escaped from the man, but he still remained silent.

A smirk broke out on her face. "I'll give you to the count of three to talk."

"I don't…"

"One."

"Seriously man I'm not saying…"

"Two."

"Come on you're not seriously going to….?"

"Three." Kris said quietly as she fired the gun. The man screamed in surprise as the wooden chair splintered around him. It took him a moment to look down to realize that the bullet hole went through the chair, the area directly in front of his crotch region. He looked to breathe a temporary sigh of relief, but quickly looked up at her, frightened as Kris cocked the gun again and aimed at him again.

"Next one goes right through it."

"They're setting up an ambush!" The man screamed, rocking the chair about in fear.

"Where?"

"Up the river! They're waiting for you up river! I swear that's all I know I swear!" The man cried, shaking in his seat as he looked down at the ground. Kris looked back over at Eduardo and tossed his pistol back to him.

"Where exactly? Who has a map?" Kris asked, turning to look at the crew. Thomas pulled out a copy of the map from his bag and stepped forward, looking rather wary as he handed it to her. She smiled at him and took the map from his hand and jutted it in the man's face.

"Point out where they're hiding at." She instructed, keeping her voice calm and level.

"I can't point with my hands behind my back." He replied, trying to sound menacing once again, but with a hint of the fear from before still in his voice.

Kris smirked. "Improvise then." Pressing the barrel of the pistol forward into his crotch, the man whimpered once again and leaned forward, using his nose as his pointer. Kris made note of where his nose landed and handed the map back to Thomas.

She pointed at the map with her now free hand to the spot the man had just indicated. "Circle here. That's where they are. Anything else I need to know?"

The man shook his head ferociously. "No, that's it I swear!"

"We'll have to take a longer route to get around them. I'll be in my room if you need me." Kris said to the wide eyed crew as she made her way through them and walked out the door to her room.


	21. Chapter 21

Kris sat back against the bed and closed her eyes. A smirk broke out across her face just thinking of the expressions on the crew as she'd left just now. She'd be lying if she said that their faces alone hadn't been worth the energy. But there was still the problem of how they were going to avoid Sterling and his men. If they were waiting to ambush them up river, they had to find a route to avoid the river. But that in and of itself was difficult as that would mean that they wouldn't have an easy access of water. Perhaps if they just avoided the particular area that Sterling's men were at, then they could just get back to the river further upstream of them? That could work, they now knew where they were hiding. If she just looked over that map again, she could devise a route to avoid Sterling's men while still connecting up with the river later on.

The door creaked open and Kris opened one eye to see Nathan walking in, closing the door behind him. He came in and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her, smirking at her as he always did. "Remind me to never piss you off."

She smiled. "I couldn't think of any other way to get him to talk."

Nathan's smirk grew larger. "Well now he's singing like a canary. He says he'll tell us whatever we want as long as we don't 'let the scary lady come back'."

Kris laughed as she sat up, pulling her knees up to hug as she looked at him. "Sorry."

"Don't be, you did good babe. You know… right when I even begin to underestimate you, you always put me right back in my place."

"Well that's what you get for trying to underestimate me to begin with."

He smiled. "I suppose so. You thought any more about how we're going to get up to the mountain."

"Yeah, I'll have to take a look at the map again, but we can probably just maneuver ourselves around them and still be able to make it back up to the river for water."

Nathan nodded. "Not a bad plan. You'll have to talk to Captain about it later."

"Yeah, he's got enough on his hands right this second with that guy in there."

"You know this means, however, that they know you're still alive."

Kris shrugged. "Probably, but I'm not that worried about it."

"Why?"

"Well one, I'm plenty capable of taking care of myself. But two, I have you guys with me. And I'd like to at least think that if I needed it, you'd all have my back."

Nathan smiled. "I think we'd be willing to."

Kris smiled back at him and stretched lethargically. "Besides, why is it that you worry so much about me anyway? You know I'm no dummy."

"I know you're not a dummy. I know you're plenty capable of taking care of yourself. Doesn't mean that I'm still not going to worry about you babe." He replied, his expression more serious than before.

The smile on Kris's face faded away as she once again became lost in his eyes. "But why…?"

"Well …. I care about you, and even if I know you can kick ass any time any day, I'm still afraid something will happen to you."

"Why?"

Nathan chuckled as he leaned forward towards her. "Is it so hard to believe that someone would actually be concerned about you?"

"Well yeah actually…"

"Well it's true so you better get used to it babe. And here I'll say it again just to get it through that thick skull of yours, I worry about you. I know you can kick ass and take care of yourself, but it doesn't mean that I'm not afraid something might happen to you. Because you know what?"

"What…?"

"Because if something were to happen to you, I don't know what I would do with myself…" Nathan replied, sounding more vulnerable than she'd ever heard him sound before.

"I don't understand…"

Nathan chuckled low in his throat. "I can't say I understand it much myself. I've never really… never really felt this way towards someone before. It's hard to explain…"

"And how is it that you feel… towards me?"

"I enjoy your company. Your stubborn, sarcastic, annoying, company. I look forward to seeing you every day, and there are just moments when just seeing you makes my heart stop. There's just something about you that drives me bat shit crazy yet makes me still want to come back for more." Kris felt herself blushing at Nathan's words. Does that mean that he…? With a sigh, Nathan leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers as he had days before. His hand reached up to cup her cheek, and Kris closed her eyes, loving the way his hand felt against her face.

"Nathan…" She whispered, unsure exactly what to say. All of her fretting over the past several days wondering about why he caused her so much confusion seemed to all make sense. As she felt his warm breath tickling her skin, she realized the one thing she'd always tried to avoid in all of her travels had finally caught up with her. She loved him. The realization caused her breath to hitch. She loved him.

Suddenly Nathan pulled away, standing up abruptly, his face beet red. "Sorry. I didn't mean to spring all of that on you at once. I'll just leave you alone for a bit." He turned on his heel to leave, but Kris quickly reached forward and grabbed his hand. Nathan looked at her over his shoulder, his eyes wide as he looked down at her. Why had she grabbed his hand? Was she…? Was she in love with him? That word she'd avoided her whole life suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Don't… don't go… please…" She whispered shyly, feeling her face blush. His questioning eyes softened as he looked at her. That teasing smile of his returned as he came back over to the bed and sat down next to her, his eyes piercing hers.

"And why should I stay?" He taunted with a rough voice, all the while smiling mischievously at her.

"Y-You're really going to make me say everything, aren't you princess?"

He chuckled, that low in his throat kind of chuckle that sent a shiver up Kris's spine. "You bet your bottom dollar babe."

She nibbled on her lip and sighed, looking away from him. "I'm… I'm not… I'm not feminine like all of the other girls. I'm rough, I curse, I fight. I'm not what you would call 'delicate'. But around you… you don't seem to care about any of that. You see me just as I am. Just Kris. You don't see me as just 'one of the guys' like every else does, or as just some 'damsel in distress I constantly have to save', you just see me as Kris. A woman. I admit at first when you were all weird about me doing stuff and got all protective, I thought you were going to treat me like that person you constantly have to take care of. But I realized that it wasn't that at all. It was just that you cared. You actually cared what happened to me. And I think that… that over time I've started to… to… well you know…"

"What? You've started to what?" Nathan challenged.

"T-To fall in l-love… with you…" She stammered shyly. She glanced up to see the smile on Nathan's face growing bigger and felt as he grabbed her face delicately with his hands. Her own smile returned, so many emotions and feelings she hadn't been sure she'd ever be able to feel blurring her mind. Nathan pressed his forehead back to hers, both of them closing their eyes as he held her in his arms.

"I love you too." He whispered gently.

She giggled wetly. "But I'm still calling you princess. I hope you know that."

Nathan laughed. "You can call me just Nate too if you want."

She nodded, throwing devilish grin at him. "I could work with Nate… but I'm still going to throw 'princess' in there every now and then. Just for good measure."

He laughed again. "You can call me whatever you want babe." Nathan wiped away one of the tears that had escaped from her eyes and she smiled at him. Kris closed her eyes, feeling Nathan's lips press tenderly against hers. The sensation was so sweet and wonderful that Kris sighed contently against him. She found herself wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him against her as his arms wrapped around her waist.

He pressed her down against the bed as his lips teased hers. She'd never really kissed anyone before Nathan, but lord could this man kiss. She felt herself panting slightly, his lips teasing her lips lovingly, taking his time as if he had all the time in the world. He nibbled at her lower lip, causing her to giggle as his hand traced up and down her side, continuing to press her down into the bed with his weight. His lips claimed hers over and over again, causing Kris to melt into his arms. Even if she spent an eternity kissing him, it still wouldn't be enough.

He pulled back slightly and looked into her eyes lovingly, stroking her hair. "We can stop here for now. I'm not going to push you too far tonight." Although he said this, his hands were still stroking her sides gently, tickling her. She merely looked up at him and laughed, her mind still hazy from his kisses.

Kris smiled innocently at him. "Why not? Push me."

He chuckled and smirked at her before he growled low in his throat, claiming her lips once again. The slow, sensual kisses from earlier turned to passionate, desperate ones that seared Kris's soul. His tongue came forward to greet hers, rubbing against it passionately, mimicking the act that was now clouding Kris's mind with desire. She grabbed at his shirt, tugging impatiently at it while his lips traveled down to her neck. Her eyes rolled back in her eyes when he found a spot on her neck, where her shoulder and neck met, and kissed at it gingerly. Nibbling at her lower lip, she grabbed at his shirt again and began pulling at it once again.

He didn't protest and instead leaned back and yanked his shirt over his head, tossing it across the room. His bandana had come loose from this, and Kris reached forward and slowly pulled it off, tossing it in the direction of his shirt. It was the first time she'd ever actually seen him without it, and he was just as handsome as ever, his hair coming down to tickle his forehead and her face. She took a moment to appreciate the sight, smiling up at him lovingly.

"See?" He teased, sounding dark and husky, "No bald spot."

She giggled at his comment, but her giggle soon turned to a moan as his lips returned to her neck, sucking at her gently. Her fingers roamed his bare chest, loving the way his skin felt against her fingers. He was even more attractive than she ever could have imagined, and she wanted to savor the fact that he was now hers. The taut muscles at his belly quivered as her fingers ventured further down, teasing him as his lips were teasing her neck. The feeling of his muscles quivering underneath her fingers excited her, made her more daring as she moved them around to his back, tracing the muscles of his back. He seemed to like that, as his sudden intake of air echoed in her ear.

He suddenly grabbed the edge of her shirt and quickly removed it from her body, and Kris gasped as the cool air touched her body. Goosebumps rose on her skin momentarily, at both the cool air and the feel of Nathan's hands on her body. He brought his hands down and touched her slowly, running his hands up and down the contours of her body. Her blood boiled in her veins, the sensations of his hands and fingers touching her in this way causing her to shiver in delight. She arched her back up as he brought his lips down; tracing her by leaving a string of kisses leading down to her lower belly. His lips lingered there for a moment, causing her to hold in her breathe in blissful anticipation of what else he had in store. Her lower belly quivered under his dangerously skillful lips and she heard him chuckle low in his throat at her reaction.

Licking and kissing his way back up, Nathan brought himself back up to Kris's lips, kissing her firmly. A hand snaked around her and she felt his fingers at her back, sparking new sensations. A moan escaped her as he deftly removed her bra, quickly unhooking it and bringing her body up, delving his face into her breasts. He inhaled, as if to capture her scent, and she could feel him smiling against her. Holding himself there, he nibbled at the crest in between her breasts, causing her to bite her lower lip to prevent herself from crying out. She could feel his erection growing, pressing insistently against her thigh and Kris wanted to touch him, to feel him as he was feeling her, but looking up at her and smiling wickedly, she knew he had other plans at the moment.

His eyes pierced hers once again and he lifted her hips to remove her pants and undergarments. She made no protest and lifted her hips, helping him to remove the remainder of her clothing. He tossed her things aside and looked down at her, stretching languidly underneath him. She felt the desire to have him look at her. She wanted him to see her like this. Throwing a sultry look up at her, her lips curved into a siren's smile, making her feel all the more sensual. Seeing his eyes cloud over with desire, it emboldened her and she rested a hand on one of her breasts as she looked up at him. She had no idea what had gotten into her, but she didn't want it to ever stop. He smirked down at her devilishly.

"You're beautiful." He whispered, and Kris felt herself blushing again.

She suddenly wanted to see him, as he was seeing her, and reached forward to undo his trousers. He brought a hand down to help her and quickly stood, sliding both his trousers and underwear down and kicking them across the room in one foul swoop. He truly was a beautiful male creature, she thought dazedly as he quickly returned to her, covering her body with his. She was momentarily frustrated at not getting the opportunity to get a better look at him, loving the sight of seeing him in this way, but she quickly lost that thought as his fingers began tracing her sides once again. She ran her hands through his hair as he brought his lips back down to hers, kissing her passionately, his body pressing against hers. She gasped at the sensation of them being skin to skin, pressed together so intimately. Never in a million years would she have ever guessed that she would ever be so incandescently happy being with this man.

Her desire to touch him had not waned, and she maneuvered herself under him to do so. She twisted her head around and brought her lips up to his neck, grazing his skin delicately with her teeth as she licked and kissed him. She heard him groan, the vibration tickling her tongue as she teased his neck further. Her fingers traveled down his body, appreciating the powerful muscles enveloped in his soft skin, her hands ravenous for the feel of his body. His mouth captured hers hungrily as she continued to touch him, reaching even further down to touch the iron-hard flesh pressing insistently into her thigh. His breath hitched as her fingers curved around him, and she marveled at the feel of him in her hands. He was so hard and thick that she felt another wave of desire slamming into her. She purred in satisfaction as she ran a hand down his length, feeling every inch of his length and hearing him growl in her ear with hooded eyes. Every sound that he made, every touch of his skin against her, every time he touched her, Kris felt herself surrendering herself further to him. As if her body wasn't even hers. Like if it had been his all along.

He suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled it away from him. He moved in between her legs, and she felt his erection pressing against her. His lips came down to suckle her breasts and moaned, clawing at his back. It was as if he knew her body better than she did, as everything he did seemed to bring her more and more pleasure. So much so that she wasn't sure she how much more of the sweet torture she could endure. She whispered his name as he released her breast from his mouth and came up to look into her eyes. He smiled at her and touched her cheek gently with his hand, feather like touches that caused her heart to flutter in her chest. He kissed the tip of her nose, her eyelids, her cheeks.

"You sure about this?" He asked. Her own smile broadened as she looked up at him and nodded, never more sure of anything in her life.

She felt his hips move forward, and gasped as he began to enter her. She threw her head back into the pillow, the pleasure she was already feeling taking over her body and mind. Feeling him kiss her throat, she felt him slide himself further into her until he was seated fully inside of her. She gasped at the sensation and grabbed at his back, her eyes squeezed shut from the sheer amazement of the sensation. He was so big and hot inside of her that she couldn't help but to bite at her lower lip to help to keep herself from shouting. He made no attempt to move, but remained motionless, allowing her to adjust to the feeling of having him inside of her.

"You okay?" He panted, his hips remained completely still as his eyes searched hers. His voice sounded strained as he spoke, further igniting the fire already rampant inside of her. She brought her head back up and nodded, no longer able to form words. His lips came down and claimed her lips once again as he slowly began to move his hips against hers. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and she moaned into his mouth. The slow rhythm that he had set completely blanked her mind and she felt as if she were floating on a cloud. Her hands came around and she firmly grabbed his buttocks in her hands, seemingly spurring him on further.

He groaned and began to move faster against her, the two of them completely lost in passion as they just held onto one another. Kris began to feel a delicious coiling sensation forming deep in her belly. It was unlike anything she'd ever experienced in her life, and with each thrust, it only became tighter and tighter until she was about ready to explode. Nathan pressed his forehead against hers as they continued to move together, as if one body. Hearing him whisper her name hoarsely, she opened her eyes to look at him with a sultry look, passion and pleasure clouding her vision. Seeing his handsome face, sweat plastering his hair to his face, was enough to break her into a million pieces. She felt herself plunging over a precipice of sheer delight and pleasure, causing her mind to completely blank and her vision to blur. She quickly brought her hand around to cover her mouth as she shouted his name in completion, the pleasure so intense that she feared that she would surely pass out from it. She felt an unfamiliar throbbing sensation echoing down below, and she locked eyes with Nathan. With a smirk on his lips and his eyes clouded with his own pleasure, he claimed her lips with his own as he too was pushed over the edge with his completion. He moaned her name into her mouth, his body trembling with the force of his release.

Nathan rested on top of hers, both of them panting as their bodies slowly drifted back down to earth. The sensations had just been so great, and so powerful, that both were left speechless. Nathan's body continued to tremble slightly for a moment before he pulled himself out of her, much to her chagrin, and rolled onto his side. His arm wrapped around her, pulling her with him so that she rested atop his chest. The two remained silent for quite a while, satisfied with just being in each other's arms. Nathan gently stroked her back as she nuzzled into him, her eyelids beginning to feel extremely heavy.

"So, what are we going to do about this?" She asked him when she felt her voice had finally returned.

He chuckled. "What do you mean?"

"This thing, between us. How is this going to work?"

She felt him shrug against her. "I'm not entirely sure yet, but I know that we'll figure it out."

She nodded. "We'll figure it out." She repeated before she finally drifted off to sleep, safely snuggled into Nathan's loving arms.


	22. Chapter 22

Kris's eyelids fluttered against her cheeks as she awoke, yawning sleepily. A smile drifted onto her face as she felt an arm wrapped around her waist and she opened her eyes further to see Nathan's sleeping face in front of her. Memories from the previous night flooded into her mind and she felt herself blush. Nathan loved her, and she loved Nathan. She wasn't exactly sure how they were going to work everything out, but all she knew was that he loved her, and that was enough for now. She wasn't sure why it had taken her so long to realize that she was in love with him too, but she was glad she knew now. Nathan continued to sleep peacefully next to her, his arm draped over her, hugging her to him. She took a moment to appreciate the warm body sleeping next to her, as she hadn't been able to do so for very long the previous night. Seeing his chest rise and fall in steadily, the muscles on his chest expanding with each breath, the peaceful look on Nathan's face, all made her feel that stirring feeling deep in her lower belly once again.

She sat up in the bed, careful not to wake him as she looked around the room, light pouring in through the window nearby. She knew that the crew would be heading up to the treasure today, and she still needed to talk to Morgan about her idea since she hadn't had the chance to do so the previous day. Kris carefully maneuvered herself from underneath Nathan's arm and tip toed over to her discarded clothing across the room. Tugging her things on, she quietly went back over to Nathan, sitting on the bed gently next to him. He looked so sweet and innocent in his sleep, and Kris didn't want to disturb him. Ok, well yeah she did, but she knew it wouldn't be a good idea if she did. Leaning forward, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. A hand reached around her and pulled her back down onto the bed. She looked up to see an impish grin on Nathan's face, his eyes still closed. She giggled as she tried to fight her way away from him, but he held her down and against him, hugging her into his warm body.

"Where do you think you're going?" He mumbled sleepily.

"I have to go talk to Captain about today. We have to get a set route out before we go anywhere."

"I'm sure Captain and Eduardo came up with one last night after we all went to our rooms. Now come back to bed." He protested, his voice husky from sleep. She had the right mind to climb right back in bed and snuggle into him, but on the other hand she knew that it wouldn't be long before they all left.

"Well either way, I have to go talk to them about it." She argued gently, smiling as he looked to pout at her. But she managed to maneuver herself from under his arm and kissed him on the forehead.

He groaned and mumbled something incoherent at her, and Kris couldn't help but to giggle softly at him. Tip-toeing her way back across the room, she opened the door and walked out into the hallway, closing the door gently behind her. She padded her way down towards Morgan's room and knocked on the door. She wasn't sure what time it was, as she hadn't checked before she'd left, but she figured it was still fairly early in the morning. The door opened just enough for Morgan to peer out and her, see that it was her, and open the door more fully, waving her inside. She quickly went inside where Eduardo already was, sitting on the edge of the bed looking down at the map in his lap.

"Good morning Kris. Sleep well?" Morgan asked, his eyes teasing as he walked over and sat down in one of the chairs.

"I doubt she got much sleep last night." Eduardo mumbled, glancing up at her briefly to throw her a satisfied smirk and a wink. Kris felt her face burn as she struggled to change the topic. What exactly did he know?

"Have we decided on a route that we're going to take?" She quickly said, turning away from Eduardo and looking at Morgan.

Morgan nodded and pulled the map from Eduardo to show her. "Yeah, since we know where they've set up camp to try to ambush us, we knew we needed to find a way around them so that we can still get back to the river, for water purposes. So we've decided to take this trail right here." Morgan pointed at the trail on the map and Kris nodded.

"That was what I was going to suggest. Because like you said, we need the water so we can't stay away from the river for too long. Even with all of the supplies Nate and I collected yesterday it still won't last us long enough to go up to the mountain and come back."

Eduardo looked up at her and leaned back on the bed, raising an eyebrow. "Nate?"

Kris rolled her eyes at him and ignored him, her face reddening even further. "This path is a good choice though."

Morgan nodded. "Hopefully we won't run into Sterling and his crew, but I highly doubt it. It's likely that they'll figure out that we took a different path eventually and they'll start trying to trail us, since we still have the map. We're going to need to be on guard at all times."

Kris nodded. "What time do we leave?"

"As soon as the rest of the boys get up. In fact I think I'll go check on Thomas and Russell right now. Excuse me." Morgan replied as he handed the map back to Eduardo and walked out the door, closing it shut behind him.

Kris turned to leave, but heard Eduardo chuckling behind her. She glanced over her shoulder at him. "What's so funny?"

Eduardo went to stand and loomed over her, his arms folded behind his back as he looked down at her, completely amused. "So you and _Nate_ huh?"

She eyed him suspiciously. "What do you know?"

"Well since my room was next door to yours, I think you know what I know."

If her face burned anymore than it already was she swore it would've been on fire. "What is it that you want Cyclops?"

His grin widened. "What do I want?"

"Yes, what is it that you want? If you knew that, I have a hard time believing that you wouldn't go running your mouth to everyone else. So I ask again, what is it that you're after?"

Eduardo chuckled. "You really are a suspicious little turd aren't you? I'm not after anything. Is it so hard to believe that I just find it amusing and nothing more? That I'm just happy for my friends?"

"Y-You're not after something?"

"No. I'm just glad Nathan finally said something to you."

"What does that mean?"

Eduardo chuckled again and reached up to ruffle her hair. "God you're dense aren't you? The rest of the crew knew he liked you, we all had a bet going on about when he would tell you."

Kris shook her head and grinned up at him, folding her arms across her chest. "And let me guess… You won. That's why you're so smug right now."

Eduardo grinned further. "Observant. Yes, I won. So I'm in a fairly good mood because of that. However, I am genuinely happy for you and Nathan."

"You are?"

"Of course. I'm not the mean old curd that you seem to think me as. Odd as it may be, you two seem to go together well. And Nathan's also been an old friend of mine for quite some time now, so I'm happy for him."

She raised an eyebrow. "What about me?"

He ruffled her hair further and stepped away. "You're growing on me."

Kris grinned at Eduardo as she stepped past him into the hallway, heading back towards her room. Quietly opening the door, she steps inside quickly and closes it right back behind her. As she turned around, she saw Nathan already clothed standing in front of a mirror tying his bandana on his head. Apparently she missed the putting back on of his trousers… pity…

He glanced at her in the mirror and smiled, finishing up with his bandana and walking towards her. "You talk to Captain?"

"Yeah. You were right, they'd already figured a route."

He stood in front of her, his tall form hovering above her. "Told ya."

She smiled at him and rolled her eyes teasingly. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, Captain's rounding up the rest of the guys so we're about to head out not too long from now."

Nathan nodded thoughtfully. "Alright. I'll go double check our food supplies for the trip."

"Hey Nate… about last night…" She said.

Nathan raised an eyebrow inquisitively, his eyes glimmering humor down at her. "Don't tell me you're starting to regret it now are you?"

Kris felt her face blush. "No, no I actually quite enjoyed last night. What I was going to say is that apparently we were… well… you know… we…"

"We what?"

"Were loud."

A hint of redness touched Nathan's cheeks as he cleared his throat. "Who told you that?"

"Eduardo…"

Nathan nodded. "What exactly did he say to you?"

"Just that he knows what's going on… that and that his room is next to ours so he … heard."

"Ah… Well, for starters ignore Eduardo. He'll find any excuse to pick at you. And second, who cares if he knows?"

Kris shrugged. "I mean I don't really, I know they'll all know eventually… it's just that I don't even know what's going on exactly between us. That and with Sterling and his men around…"

Nathan's expression softened. "… You're afraid that they'll find out and use it as leverage somehow?"

"Well… yeah…"

"I suppose I understand where you're coming from, but let's not try to create problems out of nothing for now, ok? We'll deal with that stuff as it comes to us. And when it comes to 'what is going on between us', let me make one thing clear in case I hadn't already. You're mine now, and I'm yours. You can label it how you want, but all you need to know is that I love you and I'm not giving you up to anyone else. Not now, not ever. Understand?"

The butterflies already developing in Kris's stomach exploded at his words, she merely grinned up at him. "Understood."

"Good." Nathan stepped forward and pressed a quick kiss against her lips. The move took her by surprise and she just stared at him. Chuckling at her expression, he quickly grabbed his things and threw them over his shoulder. Stepping past her, he pressed another quick kiss against her lips as he stepped past her.

"I don't think I'll ever tire of seeing that face." He teased, standing in the door frame as he waited for her to gather her things.


	23. Chapter 23

"Where are we exactly?" Thomas asked, sounding exasperated.

The crew had left the motel earlier that morning, and were trudging their way down the trail. They'd been walking almost the entire day, and Kris looked up to see the sun kissing the horizon, starting to feel exhausted herself. The time had flown by at least, with her and the rest of the guys talking and chatting amongst themselves the entire day to amuse themselves. Eduardo hadn't brought up what he knew about Kris and Nathan, which relieved Kris. He'd collect his bet money later on and she'd make sure he'd get it, as long as it meant that he kept his mouth shut for now. Not that she didn't want everyone to know how she felt about Nathan, quite the contrary. She wanted to tell everyone, as she felt them to be her friends now as well, but under the given circumstances, she knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to discuss it. Especially if there did happen to be Sterling's crew lurking around. She and Nathan had both agreed to keep their relationship under wraps until they all returned safely to the Sirius.

Eduardo pulled out his map and examined it. "We're about fifteen miles from town."

Russell groaned. "Can we take a break please?"

Morgan chuckled as he nodded. "Not a bad idea. It's actually going to get dark here soon, so let's just go ahead and set up camp here." The group let out a collective sigh of relief as they lowered their things from their backs and all but collapsed to the ground. It had been hours since they'd last taken any sort of break, and they were all relieved to have one now, exhausted from making their way through the dense forests. Nathan and Kris sat on the ground next to one another, and Kris leaned back against one of the trees, closing her eyes momentarily.

"How far away do you think we are from Sterling and his crew?" Kris heard Christopher ask.

"Well if we indeed have the correct location of where they set up their ambush, I'd say we're a good couple of miles away from them." Eduardo replied, sounding almost as tired as Kris felt.

Kris felt Nathan lean against the tree next to her, feeling his shoulder pressing against hers.. "You think our little friend from Sterling's crew is still back at the motel?" Kris whispered to him, trying to keep her voice quiet so only he would hear.

She felt him shrug. "Who knows? We left him tied up in one of the rooms, someone's likely to have found him by now. Either that or he managed to get out somehow."

"It won't be long then before they come and try to attack. You know that, right?"

"I know. But we're prepared for it."

"We'd be outnumbered Nate. Then what? I have complete faith in all of our fighting abilities, but I doubt we could hold off all of them. There's no way that you and the guys wouldn't come out unscathed from it…"

He chuckled. "Just us? You're excluding yourself from this one?"

Kris shook her head. "No. I just know that if we were outnumbered, I think they'd have different… plans… for me."

She felt Nathan tense behind her, realizing what she'd implied. "I'm not going to let anything like that happen to you."

Kris smiled. "I know. I know you wouldn't. I just don't want anything to happen to you, or the guys."

She felt Nathan's eyes on her, but still didn't turn to look at him. "You sound like you're actually worried about us."

She nudged him playfully. "Of course I am. The guys are my friends and you're my…"

"I'm your what?" Nathan challenged, an almost sultry tone to his voice.

She cleared her throat and made sure her voice was low and quiet. "… You're the man I'm in love with… and I don't know what's going to happen to all of us if we do happen to get outnumbered." She replied rather shyly, still not used to saying such things to another person.

"We're all going to be just fine, don't worry babe. And if push comes to shove, I know that we can all kick ass."

"But how can you be so sure?"

Nathan chuckled and she felt him place his hand on hers, the hand hidden behind their bags. "You're trying to get me to say something cheesy, aren't ya?"

She giggled. "What kind of cheesy thing did you have in mind?"

"I was just going to say that knowing that you love me, I don't have to worry about anything, as long as I know that you're with me and that you're safe." He squeezed her hand and she felt her cheeks blushing considerably, looking up to make sure the guys weren't watching their interaction. Lost in their own conversations, the rest of the crew seemed completely unaware of the two, and Kris relaxed.

"You think he's going to go and tell Sterling that he told us about the ambush?" She asked, changing the subject to try to bring her blushing back down.

"You can bet your bottom dollar he will. Although he might be a little hesitant at first, given his encounter with you." Nathan replied, and even though she wasn't looking at him, she could hear the smile in his voice.

She chuckled and lowered her voice, so only he could hear her. "Does that scare you about me?"

"What?"

"That I can be… aggressive like that."

"Not a bit. Not that I'm about to go out and buy you a collection of whips and chains, but I like that you're not afraid to do what you need to, to get the job done. Means I can depend on you if I need to." She squeezed his hand and smiled.

Russell, who was sitting nearby, groaned. "Nathan, I'm hungry." He complained, sounding so childish that Kris couldn't help but to giggle at the sound of his voice.

Nathan rolled his eyes, and with a reluctant sounding groan, stood to his feet. "Alright, I'll cook us all dinner."

Morgan grinned at Nathan. "Better make it a big one. Tomorrow's going to be a _long _day for us all."


	24. Chapter 24

"You guys hungry?" Nathan asked the group. They had been traveling the entire day again, and had decided to bunk down for the night. Kris almost giggled at Russell and Thomas's expression as they nodded eagerly at Nathan, saliva practically dripping down the sides of their faces. Although she didn't have the map in front of her, as Eduardo did, she knew that they weren't too far from where the treasure was, but that the worst part of their journey was ahead of them. If they were tired now, they had no idea what was coming. Pretty soon, they'd have to start ascending up the mountain towards the cavern where they treasure was supposedly hiding.

Nathan chuckled and grabbed one of the pots he'd brought along with him. "I'll need to fill this up with water if we want to have anything edible for tonight. I'm saving some of the nonperishable things for later."

"According to the map, we're fairly close to a stream branching off the river. There won't be much water there, but it should do for now." Eduardo replied, pointing in the general direction. Nathan nodded and with a sly wink at Kris, he made his way through the thick bushes towards the stream. Kris pulled one of her shoes off, having felt a rock lodged in there somewhere earlier, and began trying to fish it out.

She thought back to earlier that day, when she and Nathan had managed to steal a few quiet moments away from the rest of the group. She'd stated that she needed to use the restroom, and Nathan had gone to accompany her, to make sure no one snatched her while she was gone. Of course it had just been an excuse for the two to have a private moment to themselves. Kris had never known that being with a man like Nathan could be so intoxicating. They'd barely gotten out of earshot of the rest of the group, and Nathan had pinned her against a tree, his lips crashing into hers. His kisses were mind-blanking, and even now, hours later, Kris could feel her lips tingling. It had taken her every bit of strength she had to pull herself away from him after several minutes, wishing they could stay that way. But after hearing the group calling from them, wondering where they'd wandered off to, they'd reluctantly returned to the group. The memory caused her to blush, and she continued to fumble with her shoe rather clumsily.

But she began to wonder, feeling her cheeks burn less, what would happen after they got the treasure? Sure, they'd return back to the ship, but what then? Would Morgan really take her back to rebuild the bar? Was the really even what she wanted anymore? After everything with the guys, getting to know all of them, falling in love with Nathan, she wasn't so sure whether she wanted to go back at all. The question now though was, would they let her stay? After all, this whole deal had been just a temporary thing. She'd grown quite close to all of them, but did they still want to just drop her back off on that mind-numbingly dull island, and sail off, leaving her there? She'd never really wanted to stay with anyone before, let alone a group of people, but she found herself wanting to stay with them. Continuing on their adventures. She particularly didn't want to leave Nathan. She loved him, and although she knew he loved her as well, what would he think of her staying there with him, on the Sirius? Would he want his girlfriend living with him on the Sirius? She shook her head, trying to push her worries aside. They had bigger things to worry about at that time then her silly worries about staying with the boys.

"Eduardo, how far are we from the treasure now?" Thomas asked, leaning up against a tree with a tired look painted on his face, waking Kris from her own thoughts.

"Not too far from here. Another day and we should be there." Eduardo replied, and both Thomas and Russell groaned in unison.

"Seriously?" Thomas groaned, sounding more his age than he ever had before, causing Kris to giggle quietly to herself as she continued to dig around in her shoe.

"Don't be such a baby. Haven't you guys been on worse trips than this before?" She said, pulling the offending stone from her shoe. Russell came over and plopped down on the ground next to Kris.

"Sure we have. Doesn't mean we like walking around for days at a time. We're sea men. We do better on the ocean." Russell replied, folding his legs in front of him and leaning forward.

Morgan chuckled. "Which just means that they complain like little children whenever we do have to come on dry land."

"So, how are things with Nathan?" Russell asked nonchalantly.

Kris felt her face turn crimson as she pulled her other shoe off. "Fine."

She heard him chuckle. "Seems like you two are getting along more."

"Shut up."

"What? Just asking a question about how my friends are doing."

She glanced over her shoulder at him, narrowing her eyes. "We're fine."

"You finally going to tell Nathan how you feel?"

She sighed and yanked her shoe back on. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come on. Everyone knows you have a thing for him, and he has a thing for you."

"Don't you think this kind of thing isn't exactly appropriate for right now? You know, Sterling trying to kill us and all."

Russell shrugged, nudging her playfully with his shoulder. "Maybe. But maybe it might be best to let him know how you feel while you can."

Kris rolled her eyes and stood up. "Thanks for the advice. I'll file that away for some other time."

"Oh come on Kris…"

She leaned in close to him so that he could only hear her. "You're not going to win the bet, I can tell you that much."

"Hey, how'd you know about that?!"

"I'm going to go check to see what's taking Nathan so long." She said quickly, smiling to herself as she made her way through the thicket to where Nathan had disappeared a while ago.

It seemed like a while since he'd gone to go get water, and she wanted to check on him. That and she wanted to avoid answering Russell's questions as much as she could. She shuffled through the bushes, hearing the sound of running water coming from up ahead. As she neared the stream, another sound entered her senses, causing her to pause. A voice. A low, raspy voice that spoke quietly, but Kris could still pick up. And it definitely wasn't Nathan's voice. She lowered herself to the ground quietly, so as not to be heard, and neared the stream, poking her head through the bushes. Ahead, she could see Nathan, surrounded by a group of men. Her heart instantly dropped into her stomach as she instantly realized what was going on. She clapped a hand over her mouth, seeing Sterling hovering in front of him with a sword pressed against Nathan's throat. They'd found them.


	25. Chapter 25

"Where's my map?" Sterling hissed at Nathan, his look menacing.

"Told ya, haven't seen it." Nathan replied with a cold voice.

Nathan seemed to wince as Sterling pressed the sword harder into his neck. "Well then who does have my map?"

Nathan narrowed his eyes, but shrugged his shoulders. "Haven't seen it. I'm just the cook, what the hell would I know about maps?"

"Come on boy, don't try my patience. Where's my map?"

"I told you I haven't seen it. How many times you want me to rephrase it?"

Sterling grinned. "You sure are a stubborn lad, I'll give you that. Alright, then here's another question for you. How's my little lady friend doing?"

The muscles in Nathan's back twitched ever so slightly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do. One of my crew said that he's seen her. Said she's quite the fiery one. I like my women like that. Think I'll have to keep her when I do eventually catch up with her." Sterling rasped at Nathan, that sadistic smile plastered to his face.

Kris sat in stunned silence as she watched from the bushes, her mind flying trying to think of something to do. As she had expected, they were quite well outnumbered, and there would be no clean way of getting out of there. She couldn't go get the guys or they might do something to Nathan, that and it would be likely that they would hear or see her trying to get back. Even if she did manage to get them, there wouldn't be anything that they could do. They were outnumbered at least ten to one, and although Kris was confident in their fighting abilities, she knew that it wouldn't be a battle they would win. She knew how strong and fierce Sterling and his men were, and they wouldn't give in easily. There was only one option she could think of, and she knew it was one that Nathan was _really _not going to like. She just hoped he would forgive her for it later.

With a nervous sigh, Kris stood up, pulling her swords from behind her head and stepping forward from the bushes. Nathan's back was facing her, but Sterling's face practically lit up when he saw her coming forward. His yellow teeth peaked from underneath his snarling lips.

"Well, well, well. There she is. It's been a while my dear, how have you been?" He crooned at her, nodding his head for her to toss her swords to the ground.

She obeyed and tossed her swords to the ground in front of her. "A lot less dead than you intended to leave me." She saw the muscles in Nathan's back tense at the sound of her voice.

"The hell are you doing here?" He hissed at her, but she ignored his words and stepped towards the group, holding her hands in the air.

"You're not very bright, are ya girl?"

"I'm here to offer you an exchange." She stated calmly, taking another step forward.

Sterling raised an eyebrow at her. "An exchange? For what, you have my map?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't have your map. But I know where the treasure is, no map needed. You don't need him, he doesn't know where the treasure is. Let him go. A life for a life."

"Kris what the hell are you doing?" Nathan snarled, but was silenced when the sword nicked his neck once again.

Sterling chuckled low in his throat, moving the sword around Nathan's neck as he stepped closer towards Kris. "Interesting proposition missy. So you can take me to my treasure without the map?"

"Yes I can. I know this area well and I've seen the map enough to know exactly where it is. You don't need the Sirius to help you. Just leave them be and I will go with you."

"Leave the Sirius be huh? Now what kind of fun is that?"

"The kind where you get your treasure without any hassles."

The sword against Nathan's neck glistened in the sunlight, Sterling cocking his head to the side as he grinned sadistically at her. "And what makes this boy here so special that you'd just offer yourself up so easily?"

Kris swallowed. "No reason in particular. Just don't see why you'd drag him around when I'm the one who can lead you to the treasure."

"Kris, get the hell out of here, what are you doing?" Nathan said sharply to her, his eyes pleading with her to just turn around and leave. But she wouldn't leave him at the hands of Sterling. As long as they had someone who could lead them to their precious treasure, they wouldn't need the Sirius. And if she had to hand herself over to them to make sure that he was ok, then that was exactly what she was going to do.

Sterling's smile widened as he looked from Nathan's face to Kris's. "Ah. I see. She's your lover, isn't she lad?"

When neither Nathan nor Kris said anything, Sterling's smile grew wicked and he threw Kris a perverted look. "Well, I can't say I blame you boy. That body of hers is enough to make any man weak in the knees. Can't say that I haven't thought of her fondly since seeing her last."

"You son of a bitch!" Nathan cursed harshly and struggled against the hold against his arms, causing Sterling to throw his head back in laughter for a moment, the sound booming through the thick foliage around them. As he continued to laugh, he waved his hand forward, lowering his sword from Nathan's neck, and Kris felt as two pairs of hands grabbed her arms from behind. Nathan was kicked forward and Kris was brought forward towards Sterling, feeling a knife being pressed against her own throat.

Sterling's eyes seemed to shine in pure delight as Kris was dragged forward, stopping right in front of him. "You better not be lying wench."

She shook her head. "I'm not. I promise. Now leave him and the rest of the Sirius alone if you want me to tell you where it is."

She looked out of the corner of her eyes to see Nathan standing away from them, a mixture of pure rage and terror displayed on his face. She felt horrible for doing this to him, but she knew that they would kill him without a second thought, and at least with her, she knew how to get to the treasure and could serve as some sort of entertainment to Sterling and his men. She could try to escape once she got them closer to it, but with the Sirius crew, they'd kill all of them without a second's thought. Unbeknownst to Sterling, while he had her swords, he didn't have the knives that she had hidden in her pants. She'd gotten them back when they'd been in town, and had strapped them down to her inner thigh, just in case. She was certainly glad now that she had, seeing the looks she was getting from the rest of the crew. Her stomach curdled as Sterling's hand came up and grabbed her chin.

"You'll tell me where the treasure is regardless. But killing the Sirius crew has always been a particular fantasy of mine as well," Sterling looked at his crew with a smile, "Kill him."

"No!" Kris shrieked, fighting against the hold on her arms, "Run Nathan! Run!"Nathan gave her a quick, painful look before nodding his head at her, and turning to run, Sterling's men hot on his trail. As she watched him disappear through the thicket, she prayed with everything that she had that he, and the rest of the boys, would be alright.

"You said you wouldn't hurt them! We had a deal!" She screamed at Sterling, struggling as she continued to fight against the two men holding her.

Sterling grabbed her chin harshly with one hand. "I never agreed to anything. Now you're going to take me to that treasure, or I'll hand you over to my crew. And let me tell ya lassie… they've missed seeing that pretty little body of yours."


	26. Chapter 26

"How much further is it woman?" Sterling barked at Kris as they walked up the side of the mountain. Her arms bound behind her back, she led the group up the mountain to the treasure. Trekking up the mountain while one of Sterling's henchmen, the one Kris cared for the least from back at the bar, held a knife to her side. They'd been walking for what felt like days, but was more along the lines of a few hours. The only happy thought in her mind was that she knew that Nathan and the boys had managed to get away. She'd heard Sterling's men talking about it after they'd come back from chasing after them. They'd said that Nathan had led them off into the middle of nowhere and had managed to just disappear, and they never found the rest of the crew. At the very least, she knew that they were safe. And that was good enough for her for right now.

A particular incident the night before was what caused Kris's current predicament, not that she regretted it in the least. She'd do it again if she'd had the chance. Sterling and his men had decided that they wanted to bunk down for the night, and had tied Kris up to one of the trees for safekeeping. After they'd all fallen asleep, she maneuvered her hand down to the knife she had strapped to her inner thigh, and had somehow managed to pull it out and cut herself free. It had taken her quite a while to cut herself free, but she'd cut it away. She'd even gotten a good distance away from Sterling's group, but when someone had woken up and discovered her gone, several men had come running after her. She was quite fast, but she was unfortunately no match for Sterling's brute of a right hand man. Had she had to of fought against him, she was sure she'd have been able to ward him off and make her way back towards the Sirius group, but a stabbing sensation in her shoulder caused her to trip and fall to the ground, grabbing at the knife that he'd thrown at her and was now lodged on the back of her shoulder.

Before she'd even had the chance to get back up and run, he'd tackled her to the ground and had her knives kicked away before she even had the presence of mind to use them. He was a silent and brutal man, but the least she could say about him was that he was quick. She'd almost been embarrassed at how quickly he'd managed to take her down. She'd have thought that all of those years thieving in the forest would have worked to her advantage, but she was certainly wrong. She was a lot rustier than she'd thought. Possibly because she didn't have her swords with her, but her agility and strength was definitely a lot less than she'd remembered it to be. She made a mental note that if she did end up making it out of the situation, she would put all of her energy into some apparently much needed training. After he'd brought her back to Sterling, she'd gotten a few punches to the face from him as her punishment for trying to run off. That and he'd taken her knives away, giving them to his right hand man. Not her best moment, Kris admitted to herself.

At the very least, she'd been able to fend off some of her… potential suitors… during the night after she'd come back to their camp. A few of Sterling's men had made their advances on her during the night, but even with her hands bound behind her back, she'd been able to hold her own. One man in particular was annoyingly persistent, but had ended up leaving with a bruised eye and a bruised ego. They'd even had to pull her away from another man, as she'd managed to trip him up and wrap her legs around his neck in a choke hold. After that incident, Sterling had placed his right hand man by her side to keep a close eye on her, and hadn't left her side since.

Her shoulder throbbed painfully as they trudged up the mountain, the blood from her wound causing her clothes to stick to her skin. Blood had trickled down from the cut on her forehead from when Sterling had punched her, dripping down from her eyebrow. Kris threw the tall man holding the knife to her side a look. How was it that she'd only known the Sirius pirates for about a month now, and she was just wracking in the injuries? But she was in real trouble now, and she knew it. It wouldn't take very long until they reached the treasure, and then they wouldn't need her anymore. She'd thought of leading them away from the treasure, but with the knife nicking at her side, she knew that that wouldn't be a particularly good idea. And with her hands bound behind her, no weapons, she was in quite the pickle.

She glanced over at Sterling. "Just up there in that cavern. Shouldn't be too far."

Sterling nodded and grabbed her chin, giving it a healthy squeeze. "You better be right lassie."

Kris swallowed nervously and continued shuffling forward, her mind racing to think of a plan. She'd been in tighter spots before, if she planned out carefully, she could make it out of this one too… she hoped. But as she tried desperately to think of how to get out, her mind drifted to Nathan and the guys. She hoped that if they were smart enough, they would be as far away from the treasure as they could possibly get. Her thoughts drifted to the look Nathan had given her when she'd told him to run. How torn he'd looked. But she knew in her heart that she'd done the right thing, for him and for the rest of the crew. She did, however, hope that if she did make it out of this mess, that she could see Nathan again. She'd never thought in a million years that she would ever fall in love with anyone, and now that she had, she wasn't sure she'd ever want to let that go.

She shook her head in a feeble attempt to bring her thoughts back to an escape plan. Kris's fingers worked at the ropes binding her wrists, fighting with the knot in hopes of possibly undoing her binds. Sterling's crew around her buzzed with excitement upon her words of their nearing the treasure. She had no idea what awaited them, whether it was a grand treasure like that of story books, or a small treasure someone had hidden away for a rainy day. Either way, she didn't care what exactly lay ahead. All she wanted now was to return to the Sirius with the rest of the Sirius crew. During her stay with the Sterling crew, she'd come to realize just how much she wanted to stay with the Sirius. Never wanted to part with them. She'd essentially become a member of the Sirius without really ever realizing it. She wasn't sure how the guys would react to her desire to remain aboard the Sirius, but she hoped they would understand. She'd never felt more alive, being on the open waters, the cool ocean breeze blowing against her face. It was better than anything she'd ever experienced in her life, and she couldn't imagine going back to rebuild the bar after everything she'd been through. She wanted to stay with them, with Nathan.

Her silent celebration when she felt the knot binding her wrists loosen was short-lived when she saw a cavern just up ahead of them. She felt as the knife at her side nicked her again, biting her tongue to prevent herself from yelping. Only a few more minutes and they wouldn't need her anymore, or worse, they'd keep her around as some sort of pet. Either option wasn't exactly appealing to her, so she struggled with the knot even more.

Sterling's smile broadened as he too saw the cavern ahead. "Let's hope you're right lassie."

He yanked Kris from his right hand man, and charged forward, excited at the prospect of finally finding his treasure. Kris swallowed thickly and licked her lips nervously as he dragged her alongside him. A few of his men rushed up next to Sterling, all buzzing with excitement. As they crawled over the edge of the cavern, a few of Sterling's men shouted out in rejoice, seeing the mountains of gold piled up before them. The cavern sparkled with jewels and gold, all untouched for years. It was a sight that shocked even Kris, as she'd never seen so much gold or jewels in her entire life. Enough for ten armies, the cavern seemed to be lined from wall to wall with it, gold even disappearing further into the darkness, going deeper into the side of the mountain. A few of the men rushed forward and grabbed handfuls of gold in their hands, dancing in celebration. Sterling cackled in triumph, throwing Kris a glare that sent shivers up her spine.

A large booming noise suddenly sounded loudly from behind them, cutting their celebration short. Sterling whirled around to see the rest of his men, the vast majority of them, falling down some sort of man-made hole by the entrance of the cavern, deep enough and large enough to entrap all of them well over their heads. Completely cut off from the rest of his group and leaving only a handful of his men next to him, Sterling and his right hand man searched about angrily, barking orders at the remaining men he had left. Even Kris looked around in confusion. Had someone set a trap?

"Get your filthy paws off my girl." A familiar voice snarled from the shadows of the cavern.


	27. Chapter 27

"Nathan…" Kris whispered as she saw Nathan and the rest of the Sirius crew step out from the shadows. Tears stung her eyes as she smiled at him, not sure whether to believe her eyes. They'd come for her. She couldn't believe it. They'd actually come for her. While his eyes were soft on her, returning a gentle smile, his eyes quickly turned fierce when he looked over at Sterling. Sterling's hand snaked its way up to Kris's shoulder, squeezing the area in which she'd been hurt. She bit her lip to silence her cry, but she could tell that Nathan could see her wincing in pain. He went to take a step towards her, but Eduardo came up next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, holding him back silently.

Morgan stepped forward from the rest of the Sirius pirates; his smile searing and it almost even made Kris want to cringe from the veracity behind it. "Sterling. I suggest you let my crew member go." Kris continued to work at the loosened rope around her wrists as the two men stared one another down.

Sterling's lips twinged into a smile. "Came all this way for a woman Morgan? I'm surprised at you."

Morgan chuckled low in his throat, a sound that was fierce in its actual meaning. "I'm here for one of my crew. Her gender is irrelevant to me." Morgan diverted is gaze to Kris, smiling softly at her, as if to make sure she was in fact alright. Kris nodded her head, showing Morgan her now unbound wrists discreetly. He chuckled again, sounding much more amused.

"So this is what's going to happen Sterling," Morgan continued, "you're going to leave Kris alone, turn around, and you're going to leave."

Sterling's nostrils flared at the thought of his defeat, and before she could move in time, he grabbed Kris by her hair, yanking her back and pressing a cold blade to her throat. Kris narrowed her eyes as he spoke, sounding more anxious than he had before, like he knew that he was defeated. His crew roared in anger at Morgan's statement, the chaos echoing down in the pit they'd fallen into, and the few remaining members left standing cheered their captain on as he took a step forward, continuing to hold Kris.

"You're not going to win Morgan. Not this time." Sterling growled angrily, his voice sending a chill down Kris's spine. But as the knife pressed against her throat nicked her skin again, fury spread through her body, and she decided to act now. She brought her now unbound arm up and slammed her elbow into Sterling's midsection. As he doubled over at the impact, she spun around and kicked the knife from his hand, sending it flying up into the air. The two rival pirate groups seemed to crash into one another simultaneously as Sterling fell onto the ground with a large thud. Kris reached her arm up and caught the knife in mid-air as Sterling's right hand man ran at her.

She side stepped him easily, watching as he stumbled forward, but quickly spun around to come at her again. She began to channel her anger into this particular fight. He'd managed to get the upper hand on her before, but she'd be damned if he did it again. As tall as he was, she knew that the one thing that she had on him, the one thing she hadn't utilized before, was her agility and speed. He was a fairly large man, and she knew that he wouldn't be as quick as she would be, and that was the one thing she needed to use to her advantage. He was much stronger than she was, and she knew that, but if she could combine her speed and strength, she knew she at least stood a good chance against him.

He charged at her once again, swinging one of the two knives that he'd taken from her at her. She dodged the blow and spun around, swinging her own knife out, feeling as it cut his face, facing him once again. Glancing quickly over her shoulder, she saw the rest of the Sirius pirates fighting against Sterling and his men. Nathan wielding his sickle and chain against his opponent with ease, as if he did it every day. Swiftly she turned around in time to see the man coming at her again. She went to side-step him again, but felt as he jutted a leg out to trip her, causing her to fall forward. She braced herself and somersaulted quickly back to her feet, out of the way of his impending attack, feeling as his knife soared right over her head.

Her ability to move so quickly seemed to infuriate him, and he charged her, shouting angrily as he swiped at her with both knives. She managed to dodge his blows, and leaned back as far as she could as he ferociously stabbed out at her. Leaning back further, she did a back hand spring out of the way, using all of her energy to slam her foot into his jaw. A small smile of satisfaction entered her face as she did, indeed, feel her foot connect with his jaw, hearing as he cried out in pain as she returned back to her normal position. Frustration seemed to take over as he shouted out, charging at her once again in blind fury. Side-stepping him for the last time, she spun around and using the hilt of her knife, she slammed it down against the back of his neck as he flew by. With a dull moan, he then collapsed onto the ground behind her.

She went over to the man's side to make sure that he was indeed unconscious when she heard someone shouting her name. A hand then reached forward and wrapped itself around her wrist, yanking her hard in the opposite direction that she had been going. Turning her body as she fell forward, she looked back to see Nathan at her side, throwing her forward as he kicked his leg out at Sterling, who had been coming up behind her. She landed on her butt as Nathan's foot connected with Sterling's midsection, sending him flying back into the pit where the rest of his men resided. Kris glanced around to see the rest of Sterling's men either lying on the ground unconscious, or being thrown alongside Sterling into the pit. Nathan turned to look down at her, both panting from their fights. She opened her mouth to say something, but Nathan quickly come over to her and dropped down to his knees beside her, wrapping her in his arms.

"Thank god you're alright." He whispered, his voice shaking slightly. Kris brought her hands up and wrapped them around Nathan, thankful to be in his arms once again. She trembled in his arms from the relief of it, seeing as the rest of the Sirius pirates gathered around them, warm smiles on their faces. She knew in that moment that she was home with them. She didn't care where they went, what happened, or who they were up against, these guys had become her family. Her friends. Everything she'd ever really wanted in life. Nathan grabbed her face and hastily brought his lips to hers, searing her lips with a kiss that left her mind foggy.

Nathan pulled his lips away, pressing his forehead against hers. "Don't you ever do anything like that again. You hear me?"

"I'm sorry…"

"They could've killed you. You know that?"

"Pretty sure I realized that already…"

"Why did you do it then?"

She smiled softly at him. "They would've killed you the minute they had the map. I at least remembered where the treasure was, so I knew that if I could lead them here, I could buy some time until I escaped."

"Well what if you couldn't escape? What if we hadn't rushed up here to wait for you guys?"

Kris shrugged her shoulders. "Then at least you and the rest of the guys would've been safe."

"But they hurt you Kris. You're bruised all over and your shoulder is bleeding. I ought to kill the lot of 'em." Kris shook her head at him, and even if he wanted to scold her for days, she didn't mind. As long as she was with him, in his arms like this, she didn't care. Nathan sighed and shook his head at her expression, a small smile on his face as he brought his lips forward to kiss her once again. Nathan and Kris both laughed, Nathan standing and holding a hand out to Kris to help her up. The rest of the guys came around Kris quickly, hugging her and laughing.

Kris looked over at Morgan. "Did you really mean what you said earlier? About me being your crew?"

Morgan chuckled as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Of course I did. You're one of us now, although I think you've been one of us for a while now."

"Not to interrupt anything…" Russell said behind them, "but can we're going to need all the hands we can get to move all of this treasure back to the ship before Sterling and them get out." The group laughed and agreed to start moving as much of the treasure as they could.

In the distance she heard Eduardo chuckling. "You guys owe me ten gold pieces by the way."


	28. Chapter 28

Several days later, Kris watched the horizon as the Sirius began to sail away from the island. She sighed contently, seeing as the island slowly disappeared into the distance. It had taken them several days to lug all of the treasure back to the ship, each carrying as much as they possibly could. They'd decided that after everything that had happened, a vacation was just due. She wasn't sure of exactly how much treasure they'd collected, but she knew that it would last them quite a while. Not that she cared, she was just too happy being on the ship with all of them again. Morgan had, the previous day, offered to take her back to rebuild her bar, but she turned him down, asking instead if she could remain on the ship with everyone. He seemed quite pleased with her response, laughing about how he wasn't going to let her leave anyway, only asking her as a pleasantry.

The cool ocean breeze blew against her face, a familiar feeling that warmed her to her core. The sea had just become so much a part of her, as much as the ship and the guys had as well. It was later in the evening, and the stars were just beginning to peak out against the dark sky. It was such a beautiful sight that it almost took Kris's breath away. She smiled as she heard a noise behind her, and felt as someone leaned against the side of the ship next to her. She continued to look up into the sky, smiling as she heard Nathan chuckling next to her.

"Beautiful night." He said quietly, looking up into the sky with her.

"Yeah, it sure is."

"So… you're really going to stay here on the Sirius with us?"

She glanced over at him with a smile. "Yeah I am. Got a problem with that princess?"

He chuckled. "Not at all. I'm glad actually."

"Good. You can't get rid of me that easily."

He turned and smiled at her. "Wasn't planning on getting rid of you at all babe. In fact, I just don't see any way around this one."

She turned to face him, raising an eyebrow at him. "Don't see any way around what?"

"Well, you love me, I love you. And seeing as how we're going to be around each other so much, I think you're just going to have to marry me babe."

"M...Marry you?" She sputtered, shocked at his words.

He nodded, as if it was the easiest decision he'd ever made. "Yep. I think we ought to get married."

"How… how can you be so sure of something like that so soon? I mean we… we just…"

He grabbed her chin, pulling it so that she looked up into his face. "Do you love me?"

"O-Of course I do…"

"Then it shouldn't matter how long we've known each other, or how long we've been dating or what not. After everything that's happened lately, I just can't picture my life without you. And waiting just doesn't sound like an appealing option to me."

Despite herself, she laughed. "How could a girl turn down such a romantic proposal?"

"You know me, just the king of romance." His Cheshire cat grin won her over. Not that it would've taken a whole lot of convincing, but it was that smile of his that just melted away any reserves she had about it.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "When did you want to do it?"

"So is that a yes?"

She nodded. "That's a yes."

He laughed triumphantly as he gathered her in his arms and lifted her, spinning her in the air as she giggled. She'd never been so happy in her entire life, and she knew that as long as her life included this man, she knew she'd always be this happy. His lips quickly crashed into hers, feeling as he literally swept her off her feet and began walking towards the stairs.

She giggled. "Where are we going?"

"Downstairs to celebrate." He replied, his voice sounding more and more husky by the second.

Anticipation sent a shiver of desire down her spine as Nathan quickly entered their bedroom, slamming the door shut behind them. Their clothing seemed to just fly off their bodies as they hastily undressed one another, too impatient to wait any longer. Her skin felt as if it were on fire as his lips branded her skin in little searing kisses. This man was everything she'd ever wanted as that innocent little girl, her thoughts hopeful of her prince charming. Nathan was that and so much more to her. He'd quickly turned into her everything. Her own lips trailed down his chest as she fought with the buttons of his trousers, a guttural groan escaping Nathan's lips as they gave into their animalistic instincts. They stood in front of one another, their clothing now long gone, and Kris finally took a moment to appreciate this man's body. Her fiancée. The word caused another wave of lust through her, and she nibbled her lower lip as she grabbed him and pushed him back onto the bed behind them. He chuckled at her domineering attitude, which quickly turned to a moan as she took no time to crawl into his lap, holding his iron-hard member in her hand, pressing him against her entrance.

"I love you." She heard him whisper as she sank down onto his pulsing member, gasping out at the sensation of being joined. She began grinding her hips against his as she sat in his lap on the edge of the bed, too impatient to hold back any more. He held her hips with his fingers, latching onto one of her breasts with his mouth. She cried out as she picked up the pace, desperate for her release, her fingers tangling in his hair. Nathan anchored himself on the bed with one arm and brought his hips up to meet hers, adding a little bump and grind to the rhythm that sent a delicious ping of pleasure through Kris, causing her to cry out again.

"I love you too." She whispered back to him hoarsely as she felt the gates of her release opening, crashing down her with such an intensity that she began chanting his name. Nathan's answering groans just heightened her pleasure, and she fell forward against him, Nathan's release swiftly following her own. The two of them fell back against the bed, still wrapped in each other's arms, and still connected down below. Neither feeling the desire to pull away from the other in any way. She felt a tear fall down her cheek as she smiled at him, the aftermath of their lovemaking just so intense that she almost wanted to cry. She was just so incandescently happy she almost wasn't sure of what to do with herself.

"Don't you need a little more clarity in a relationship or something before asking a girl to marry you?" She teased him lovingly, no doubt in her mind now of just how much she truly wanted to marry this man.

"You are my clarity." His eyes almost seemed to glisten as he responded, rolling over her to start all over again.


	29. Final Note

Hey guys! Due to the awesome number of requests I have gotten, I just wanted to let you know that I am in fact planning on writing a sequel to this story! I have a few other story lines that I'm writing right now, so it won't be immediately that I write the sequel to this, but I promise that I am in fact going to write the sequel soon. Thank you guys so much for your amazing support and love for my writing, you have no idea how much I appreciate it and I hope that ya'll continue to read! :) 


End file.
